While Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shareholders have had a good week with the stock up 26%, they shouldn’t let their guards down. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell US$6.5m worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.
Although we don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Intel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, April Miller Boise, sold US$4.0m worth of shares at a price of US$99.53 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$125). 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. 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 28% of April Miller Boise’s holding.
All up, insiders sold more shares in Intel than they bought, 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!
See our latest analysis for Intel
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).
Intel Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Intel shares. Specifically, insiders ditched US$6.5m worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it’s hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.
Does Intel Boast High Insider Ownership?
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. Intel insiders own about US$498m worth of shares (which is 0.08% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.