Have Northern Trust Insiders Been Selling Stock?

We wouldn't blame Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Peter Cherecwich, the Executive VP & President of Asset Servicing recently netted about US$1.0m selling shares at an average price of US$87.09. That sale reduced their total holding by 13% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

See our latest analysis for Northern Trust

Northern Trust Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman & CEO Michael O’Grady made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.3m worth of shares at a price of US$65.10 each. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$84.60), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.7m for 26.77k shares. On the other hand they divested 12.06k shares, for US$1.1m. In total, Northern Trust insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Northern Trust is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Northern Trust

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Northern Trust insiders own 1.4% of the company, currently worth about US$233m based on the recent share price. 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 Northern Trust Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Northern Trust stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. But we take heart from prior transactions. And insider ownership remains quite considerable. So we're happy to look past recent trading. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Northern Trust that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course Northern Trust may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.