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Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Mainfreight Limited (NZSE:MFT) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.
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 Mainfreight
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Mainfreight
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Founding Owner & Executive Chairman Bruce Plested bought NZ$957k worth of shares at a price of NZ$79.79 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than NZ$72.50 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 47.02k shares worth NZ$3.8m. But insiders sold 5.00k shares worth NZ$390k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Mainfreight insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insiders At Mainfreight Have Bought Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we've seen significantly more insider buying, than insider selling, at Mainfreight. Founding Owner & Executive Chairman Bruce Plested spent NZ$1.1m on stock. On the other hand, General Counsel Carl G. Howard-Smith netted NZ$390k by selling. Insiders have spent more buying shares than they have selling, so on balance we think they are are probably optimistic.
Does Mainfreight Boast High Insider Ownership?
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Mainfreight insiders own about NZ$1.3b worth of shares (which is 18% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.