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In the last year, many Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Linde
The insider, John Panikar, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$4.6m worth of shares at a price of US$463 each. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$455. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.
In total, Linde insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
I will like Linde 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.
Insiders At Linde Have Sold Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we've seen notably more insider selling, than insider buying, at Linde. In total, insiders sold US$3.0m worth of shares in that time. On the flip side, Independent Director Paula G. Reynolds spent US$44k on purchasing shares (as mentioned above) . Since the selling really does outweigh the buying, we'd say that these transactions may suggest that some insiders feel 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Linde insiders own about US$372m worth of shares (which is 0.2% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.