Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) insiders may have foreseen weakness, sold US$32m worth of stock despite low prices

Vail Resorts, Inc.'s (NYSE:MTN) value has fallen 4.8% in the last week, but insiders who sold US$32m worth of stock over the last year have had less success. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of US$323 is still lower than the current share price.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Vail Resorts

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Vail Resorts

The Executive Chairman, Robert Katz, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$29m worth of shares at a price of US$323 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$355, 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. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 26% of Robert Katz's holding.

Vail Resorts insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insiders at Vail Resorts Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Vail Resorts. In total, insiders dumped US$2.2m 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.

Does Vail Resorts Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Vail Resorts insiders own about US$151m worth of shares (which is 1.1% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Vail Resorts Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. On the plus side, Vail Resorts makes money, and is growing profits. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Vail Resorts.

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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, but not derivative transactions.

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.

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