Have Insiders Sold Woolworths Holdings Shares Recently?

We wouldn't blame Woolworths Holdings Limited (JSE:WHL) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Roy Bagattini, the Group CEO & Executive Director recently netted about R39m selling shares at an average price of R55.11. That sale reduced their total holding by 22% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Woolworths Holdings

Notably, that recent sale by Roy Bagattini is the biggest insider sale of Woolworths Holdings shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of R51.66. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Woolworths Holdings 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!

See our latest analysis for Woolworths Holdings

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Does Woolworths Holdings Boast High 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Woolworths Holdings insiders own 0.6% of the company, worth about R262m. 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 Woolworths Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Woolworths Holdings stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. 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. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Woolworths Holdings has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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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.