Chief Product Officer Hillary Ashton Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Teradata

We wouldn't blame Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Hillary Ashton, the Chief Product Officer recently netted about US$1.6m selling shares at an average price of US$29.10. That diminished their holding by a very significant 100%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

Check out our latest analysis for Teradata

Teradata Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Hillary Ashton was the biggest sale of Teradata shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$29.79, 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was 100% of Hillary Ashton's holding.

Teradata 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. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Teradata better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Teradata Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 0.8% of Teradata shares, worth about US$23m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Teradata Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought Teradata stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But since Teradata is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Teradata and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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