AptarGroup Insiders Sell US$5.4m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Over the past year, many AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

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.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At AptarGroup

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP of President & Strategic Group Dev. and President of Aptar Asia, Xiangwei Gong, sold US$1.1m worth of shares at a price of US$156 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 good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$132. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last year AptarGroup insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart 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 AptarGroup

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Insiders At AptarGroup Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at AptarGroup. In total, insiders sold US$501k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. AptarGroup insiders own about US$63m worth of shares. That equates to 0.7% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About AptarGroup Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought AptarGroup stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that AptarGroup is growing earnings. 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 these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of AptarGroup.

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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.