We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in China Overseas Land & Investment Limited (HKG:688).

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

See our latest analysis for China Overseas Land & Investment

China Overseas Land & Investment Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Non-Executive Director, Lai-Tai Fan Hsu, sold HK$691k worth of shares at a price of HK$28.80 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of HK$24.75. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive). Lai-Tai Fan Hsu was the only individual insider to sell over the last year. Notably Lai-Tai Fan Hsu was also the biggest buyer, having purchased HK$860k worth of shares.

Lai-Tai Fan Hsu bought 30000 shares over the last 12 months at an average price of HK$28.65. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by 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!

China Overseas Land & Investment is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders at China Overseas Land & Investment Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider buying at China Overseas Land & Investment. Independent Non-Executive Director Lai-Tai Fan Hsu bought HK$860k worth in that time. On the other hand, Independent Non-Executive Director Lai-Tai Fan Hsu sold HK$691k worth of shares. It is nice to see that insiders have bought, but the quantum isn't large enough to get us excited.