Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Primerica

We wouldn't blame Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Peter Schneider, the President recently netted about US$561k selling shares at an average price of US$280. That sale reduced their total holding by 15% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

We've discovered 2 warning signs about Primerica. View them for free.

Primerica Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO & Director, Glenn Williams, sold US$904k worth of shares at a price of US$301 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$272). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

In the last year Primerica 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!

View our latest analysis for Primerica

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).

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Primerica insiders own about US$50m worth of shares. That equates to 0.5% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Primerica Insiders?

Insiders sold Primerica shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But since Primerica is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Primerica you should know about.

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 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.