Hyatt Hotels Insiders Sell US$12m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Many Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Hyatt Hotels

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Hyatt Hotels

The President, Mark Hoplamazian, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$7.4m worth of shares at a price of US$160 each. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$162, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 8.2% of Mark Hoplamazian's holding.

In the last year Hyatt Hotels 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. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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).

Hyatt Hotels Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Hyatt Hotels shares. In total, Executive VP & Chief Commercial Officer Mark Vondrasek sold US$240k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership Of Hyatt Hotels

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Hyatt Hotels insiders own about US$2.1b worth of shares (which is 13% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Hyatt Hotels Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought Hyatt Hotels stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. But it is good to see that Hyatt Hotels is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Be aware that Hyatt Hotels is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is potentially serious...

But note: Hyatt Hotels may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.