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Over the past year, many Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) 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, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
See our latest analysis for Ameriprise Financial
Ameriprise Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The Chairman & CEO, James Cracchiolo, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$8.9m worth of shares at a price of US$409 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$572, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 12% of James Cracchiolo's holding.
Insiders in Ameriprise Financial didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
I will like Ameriprise Financial better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Ameriprise Financial Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Ameriprise Financial shares. In total, insiders dumped US$6.0m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.
Insider Ownership
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with 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. Ameriprise Financial insiders own 0.3% of the company, currently worth about US$141m based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.