Read This Before Selling Duck Creek Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCT) Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Duck Creek Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCT).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

Check out our latest analysis for Duck Creek Technologies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Duck Creek Technologies

The Chief Operating Officer Matthew Foster made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$398k worth of shares at a price of US$27.00 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$40.65. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

While Duck Creek Technologies insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. 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!

Duck Creek Technologies is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that Duck Creek Technologies insiders own 3.8% of the company, worth about US$200m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Duck Creek Technologies Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Duck Creek Technologies shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Duck Creek Technologies insiders feel good about the company's future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Duck Creek Technologies is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit unpleasant...

Of course Duck Creek Technologies 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. 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.
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