SS&C Technologies Holdings Insider Lowered Holding By 72% During Last Year

From what we can see, insiders were net sellers in SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SSNC ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders sold the stock in greater numbers than they purchased it.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for SS&C Technologies Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At SS&C Technologies Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President & COO, Rahul Kanwar, sold US$11m worth of shares at a price of US$73.13 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$73.70, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was 72% of Rahul Kanwar's holding. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Rahul Kanwar.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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SS&C Technologies Holdings Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last three months saw significant insider selling at SS&C Technologies Holdings. In total, President & COO Rahul Kanwar sold US$11m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. SS&C Technologies Holdings insiders own about US$2.4b worth of shares (which is 13% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At SS&C Technologies Holdings Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought SS&C Technologies Holdings stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, SS&C Technologies Holdings makes money, and is growing profits. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing SS&C Technologies Holdings. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in SS&C Technologies Holdings.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.