Many The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Founder & Co-Chairman Charles Schwab was not their only sale of Charles Schwab shares this year. Earlier in the year, they fetched US$69.43 per share in a -US$19m sale. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$81.61). We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 0.2%of Charles Schwab's holding.

In total, Charles Schwab insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. 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 are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insiders At Charles Schwab Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Charles Schwab. In total, insiders sold US$48m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership Of Charles Schwab

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Charles Schwab insiders own about US$9.7b worth of shares (which is 6.4% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.