Green Dot Insiders May Regret Not Buying More, Market Cap Hits US$625m

Insiders who bought Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) stock in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The company's market value increased by US$85m as a result of the stock's 14% gain over the same period. Put another way, the original US$299.1k acquisition is now worth US$438.2k.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Green Dot

Green Dot Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chief Revenue Officer Chris Ruppel for US$299k worth of shares, at about US$9.16 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$13.28. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

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. Our data indicates that Green Dot insiders own about US$7.8m worth of shares (which is 1.3% of the company). We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Green Dot Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Green Dot insiders are doubting the company. 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. For example - Green Dot has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course Green Dot 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.