This CDW Insider Reduced Their Stake By 21% \

Viewing insider transactions for CDW Corporation's (NASDAQ:CDW ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net sellers. This means that a larger number of shares were sold by insiders in relation to shares purchased.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for CDW

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CDW

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, Donna Zarcone, sold US$956k worth of shares at a price of US$203 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$176). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Donna Zarcone was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

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!

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

CDW Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at CDW. President Christine Leahy spent US$499k on stock, and there wasn't any selling. That shows some optimism about the company's future.

Insider Ownership Of CDW

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. Insiders own 0.2% of CDW shares, worth about US$43m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About CDW Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. While recent transactions indicate confidence in CDW, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for CDW you should know about.

But note: CDW 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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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.