Non-Executive Chairman Of MSA Safety Sold 45% Of Their Shares

Some MSA Safety Incorporated (NYSE:MSA) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Non-Executive Chairman, Nishan Vartanian, recently sold a substantial US$4.8m worth of stock at a price of US$161 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 45% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

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MSA Safety Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Nishan Vartanian is the biggest insider sale of MSA Safety shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$159. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

In the last year MSA Safety insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

View our latest analysis for MSA Safety

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Does MSA Safety Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. MSA Safety insiders own about US$380m worth of shares (which is 6.1% 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.

So What Do The MSA Safety Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought MSA Safety 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. But since MSA Safety is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing MSA Safety. For example - MSA Safety has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.