Insiders At Elevance Health Sold US$9.2m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

Many Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. 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 do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Elevance Health

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Elevance Health

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & President of Government Health Benefits, Felicia Norwood, sold US$6.8m worth of shares at a price of US$535 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at below the current price (US$539). 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 36% of Felicia Norwood's holding.

Elevance Health insiders didn't buy any shares over 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!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Elevance Health Have Sold Stock Recently

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Elevance Health shares. In total, Independent Director Robert Dixon dumped US$155k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Elevance Health insiders own 0.1% of the company, currently worth about US$154m 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 Elevance Health Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But since Elevance Health is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Elevance Health.

But note: Elevance Health 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.