LyondellBasell Industries Insiders Sell US$2.3m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

In the last year, many LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE:LYB) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for LyondellBasell Industries

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At LyondellBasell Industries

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Non-Executive Director, Robin William Buchanan, sold US$1.8m worth of shares at a price of US$100 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$76.70. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Notably Robin William Buchanan was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$380k worth of shares.

In total, LyondellBasell Industries insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Insiders At LyondellBasell Industries Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last quarter, LyondellBasell Industries insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. Specifically, Independent Non-Executive Director Robin William Buchanan bought US$380k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. That shows some optimism about the company's future.

Insider Ownership Of LyondellBasell Industries

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares, worth about US$41m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At LyondellBasell Industries Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. The more recent transactions are a positive, but LyondellBasell Industries insiders haven't shown the sustained enthusiasm that we look for, although they do own a decent number of shares, overall. So they seem pretty well aligned, overall. 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 that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with LyondellBasell Industries (including 1 which is significant).

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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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