In This Article:
Looking at International Business Machines Corporation's (NYSE:IBM ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
See our latest analysis for International Business Machines
International Business Machines Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The insider, Robert Del Bene, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$445k worth of shares at a price of US$148 each. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$141. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place 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). The only individual insider seller over the last year was Robert Del Bene.
Robert Del Bene sold a total of 4.60k shares over the year at an average price of US$145. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Insiders At International Business Machines Have Sold Stock Recently
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of International Business Machines shares. Specifically, insider Robert Del Bene ditched US$445k 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
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. International Business Machines insiders own 0.08% of the company, currently worth about US$103m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
So What Do The International Business Machines Insider Transactions Indicate?
An insider hasn't bought International Business Machines stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 5 warning signs for International Business Machines (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that we believe deserve your full attention.