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 RPS Group plc (LON:RPS).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.
See our latest analysis for RPS Group
RPS Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The CEO & Director John Douglas made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£149k worth of shares at a price of UK£1.49 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£0.73 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. John Douglas was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.
John Douglas bought a total of 113.15k shares over the year at an average price of UK£1.45. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
RPS Group 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.
Insider Ownership of RPS Group
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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Based on our data, RPS Group insiders have about 0.8% of the stock, worth approximately UK£1.5m. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.