United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) insiders who sold US$2.2m worth of stock earlier this year are probably glad they did so as market cap slides to US$6.0b

By selling US$2.2m worth of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) stock at an average sell price of US$30.56 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company’s market cap plunged by US$201m after price dropped by 3.3% last week but insiders were able to limit their loss to an extent.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for United States Steel

United States Steel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Senior Vice President of European Solutions & President of U. S. Steel Košice, James Bruno, sold US$2.2m worth of shares at a price of US$30.56 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$25.41). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels. James Bruno was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

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!

I will like United States Steel better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does United States Steel Boast High 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that United States Steel insiders own 0.6% of the company, worth about US$38m. 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 United States Steel Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by United States Steel insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for United States Steel you should know about.

Of course United States Steel may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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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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.