Insiders At LeMaitre Vascular Sold US$19m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

In the last year, many LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (NASDAQ:LMAT) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for LeMaitre Vascular

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At LeMaitre Vascular

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chairman & CEO, George LeMaitre, for US$7.5m worth of shares, at about US$75.94 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$101, 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 4.6% of George LeMaitre's holding.

Insiders in LeMaitre Vascular didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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!

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).

LeMaitre Vascular Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider selling at LeMaitre Vascular. Independent Director Lawrence Jasinski only netted US$20k selling shares, in that period. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the volume sold is so low that it really doesn't bother us.

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. LeMaitre Vascular insiders own 8.7% of the company, currently worth about US$194m 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 LeMaitre Vascular Insider Transactions Indicate?

We did not see any insider buying in the last three months, but we did see selling. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. While we feel good about high insider ownership of LeMaitre Vascular, we can't say the same about the selling of shares. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

But note: LeMaitre Vascular may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.