Selling US$2.5m worth of stock earlier this year was a lucrative decision for Alarm.com Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALRM) insiders

Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ALRM) stock rose 10% last week, but insiders who sold US$2.5m worth of stock over the last year are probably in a more advantageous position. Selling at an average price of US$67.04, which is higher than the current price, may have been the best move for these insiders because their investment would have been worth less now than when they sold.

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.

View our latest analysis for Alarm.com Holdings

Alarm.com Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CFO & Principal Accounting Officer, Steve Valenzuela, sold US$516k worth of shares at a price of US$75.60 per share. 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$58.24. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Alarm.com Holdings insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

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

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. Alarm.com Holdings insiders own about US$141m worth of shares (which is 4.8% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Alarm.com Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Alarm.com Holdings shares in the last quarter. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Alarm.com Holdings insiders selling. 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. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Alarm.com Holdings (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable).

Of course Alarm.com Holdings 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.