Several Cohu Insiders Sell Shares Sending Potential Negative Signal

Quite a few Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) insiders sold their shares over the past year, which may be a cause for concern. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. 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, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Cohu

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Cohu

The Lead Independent Director, Steven Bilodeau, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$232k worth of shares at a price of US$29.24 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$25.39. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Cohu 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. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Does Cohu Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 2.5% of Cohu shares, worth about US$30m. 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 Do The Cohu Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Cohu insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Cohu insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Cohu.

But note: Cohu may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.