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Over the past year, many Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
Check out our latest analysis for Applied Materials
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Applied Materials
The President, Gary Dickerson, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$99m worth of shares at a price of US$247 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$175. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
In the last year Applied Materials insiders didn't buy any company stock. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.
Insider Ownership Of Applied Materials
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Applied Materials insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth about US$330m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Applied Materials Tell Us?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Applied Materials insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Applied Materials, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.