Federal Agricultural Mortgage President & CEO Bradford Nordholm Sells 51% Of Holding

Some Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President & CEO, Bradford Nordholm, recently sold a substantial US$1.5m worth of stock at a price of US$191 per share. That diminished their holding by a very significant 51%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

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Federal Agricultural Mortgage Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Bradford Nordholm was the biggest sale of Federal Agricultural Mortgage shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$186. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$208k for 1.07k shares. But insiders sold 41.29k shares worth US$8.4m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Federal Agricultural Mortgage shares, than buying. 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!

View our latest analysis for Federal Agricultural Mortgage

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).

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Federal Agricultural Mortgage insiders own about US$28m worth of shares. That equates to 1.4% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Federal Agricultural Mortgage Tell Us?

Insiders sold Federal Agricultural Mortgage shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! While it's good to be aware of 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 help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Federal Agricultural Mortgage.

Of course Federal Agricultural Mortgage 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.