As DaVita Inc.'s (NYSE:DVA)) market cap dropped by US$362m, insiders who sold US$8.0m worth of stock were able to offset their losses

By selling US$8.0m worth of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) stock at an average sell price of US$123 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company's market worth decreased by US$362m over the past week after the stock price dropped 3.2%, although insiders were able to minimize their losses

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for DaVita

DaVita Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CFO & Treasurer, Joel Ackerman, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$5.0m worth of shares at a price of US$131 each. 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$106. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last year DaVita insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!

I will like DaVita better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does DaVita Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. DaVita insiders own about US$324m worth of shares (which is 3.0% of the company). 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 Does This Data Suggest About DaVita Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the DaVita insiders selling. While we like knowing 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that DaVita has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

But note: DaVita 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, but not derivative transactions.

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.

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