We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Alpha Pro Tech, Ltd. (NYSEMKT:APT), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Selling?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that ‘insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers’.
View our latest analysis for Alpha Pro Tech
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Alpha Pro Tech
Director Russell Manock made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$54k worth of shares at a price of US$3.60 each. So it’s clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$4.25. While their view may have changed since they sold, this isn’t a particularly bullish sign. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 17.6% of Russell Manock’s holding. Russell Manock was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.
You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
I will like Alpha Pro Tech better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it’s a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Alpha Pro Tech insiders own 21% of the company, worth about US$12m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Alpha Pro Tech Insiders?
The fact that there have been no Alpha Pro Tech insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Alpha Pro Tech in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow for free .
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.