We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Ocean Yield ASA (OB:OCY).

What Is Insider Buying?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

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 Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

Check out our latest analysis for Ocean Yield

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Ocean Yield

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chief Executive Officer Lars Solbakken for kr3.8m worth of shares, at about kr45.00 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of kr48.15. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months Ocean Yield insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Ocean Yield Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Ocean Yield. Not only was there no selling that we can see, but they collectively bought kr10m worth of shares. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Does Ocean Yield Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Ocean Yield insiders own about kr147m worth of shares. That equates to 1.7% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.