This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Elastic N.V. (NYSE:ESTC)

Some Elastic N.V. (NYSE:ESTC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior VP & General Counsel, W. H. Garrett, recently sold a substantial US$1.1m worth of stock at a price of US$108 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 17%, which is notable but not too bad.

View our latest analysis for Elastic

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Elastic

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Co-Founder & Non-Executive Director, Steven Schuurman, for US$63m worth of shares, at about US$89.70 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$105, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 5.9% of Steven Schuurman's holding.

Elastic 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 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

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Elastic insiders own 25% of the company, currently worth about US$2.2b based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Elastic Tell Us?

An insider 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. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Elastic (including 1 which is significant).

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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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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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