ProPetro Holding Insiders Sold US$583k Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

A number of ProPetro Holding Corp. (NYSE:PUMP) insiders sold their shares in the last year, which may have raised concerns among investors. 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.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for ProPetro Holding

ProPetro Holding Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President & COO, Adam Munoz, sold US$395k worth of shares at a price of US$9.28 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$6.67. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

All up, insiders sold more shares in ProPetro Holding than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insiders At ProPetro Holding Have Sold Stock Recently

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of ProPetro Holding shares. Specifically, Independent Director G. Lawrence ditched US$75k 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 ProPetro Holding Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 7.7% of ProPetro Holding shares, worth about US$55m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About ProPetro Holding Insiders?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in ProPetro Holding, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

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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 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.