Founder James Scapa Just Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Altair Engineering Inc. (NASDAQ:ALTR)

Investors may wish to note that the Founder of Altair Engineering Inc., James Scapa, recently netted US$68k from selling stock, receiving an average price of US$28.83. It wasn't a huge sale, but it did reduce their holding by 39%. This does not instill confidence.

View our latest analysis for Altair Engineering

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Altair Engineering

Notably, that recent sale by James Scapa is the biggest insider sale of Altair Engineering shares that we've seen in the last year. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$26.41. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Altair Engineering insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership of Altair Engineering

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Altair Engineering insiders own 40% of the company, currently worth about US$754m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The Altair Engineering Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Altair Engineering has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

But note: Altair Engineering 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, but not derivative transactions.

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