This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Hewlett Packard Enterprise

We wouldn't blame Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Antonio Neri, the CEO, President & Director recently netted about US$3.1m selling shares at an average price of US$18.52. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 8.3%.

See our latest analysis for Hewlett Packard Enterprise

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Hewlett Packard Enterprise

In fact, the recent sale by Antonio Neri was the biggest sale of Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$18.81. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent 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 only 8.3% of Antonio Neri's holding.

In the last year Hewlett Packard Enterprise insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Hewlett Packard Enterprise insiders own about US$91m worth of shares. That equates to 0.4% of the company. 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 Do The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But it is good to see that Hewlett Packard Enterprise is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! While it's good to be aware of 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Hewlett Packard Enterprise has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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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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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.