Maximus Insiders Sell US$4.3m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Many Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Maximus

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Maximus

The President, Bruce Caswell, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.6m worth of shares at a price of US$74.68 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$80.00). We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 8.3% of Bruce Caswell's holding. Notably Bruce Caswell was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$267k worth of shares.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$267k for 3.36k shares. But insiders sold 55.13k shares worth US$4.3m. In total, Maximus insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. 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!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Have Maximus Insiders Traded Recently?

There was only a small bit of insider buying, worth US$4.7k, in the last three months. Overall, we don't think these recent trades are particularly informative, one way or the other.

Does Maximus Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Maximus insiders own 1.1% of the company, worth about US$53m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Maximus Insiders?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. That said, the purchases were not large. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Maximus insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Maximus.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.