How Many Goosehead Insurance, Inc (NASDAQ:GSHD) Shares Have Insiders Sold, In The Last Year?

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Goosehead Insurance, Inc (NASDAQ:GSHD), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Selling?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

Check out our latest analysis for Goosehead Insurance

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Goosehead Insurance

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Co-Founder, Mark Jones, sold US$7.9m worth of shares at a price of US$109 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$167). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 11% of Mark Jones's holding.

Goosehead Insurance insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership of Goosehead Insurance

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Goosehead Insurance insiders own about US$139m worth of shares (which is 2.2% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Goosehead Insurance Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Goosehead Insurance shares in the last quarter. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Goosehead Insurance 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. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Goosehead Insurance.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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.

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