Have Philip Morris International Insiders Been Selling Stock?

Some Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President of South & Southeast Asia, Frederic de Wilde, recently sold a substantial US$1.9m worth of stock at a price of US$96.42 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 12% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

View our latest analysis for Philip Morris International

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Philip Morris International

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive Chairman of the Board, Andre Calantzopoulos, for US$8.6m worth of shares, at about US$90.23 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$95.02, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. 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. This single sale was just 8.6% of Andre Calantzopoulos's stake.

In the last year Philip Morris International insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Philip Morris International insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about US$237m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Philip Morris International Tell Us?

Insiders haven't bought Philip Morris International stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Philip Morris International. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Philip Morris International (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

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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.