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Many Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) 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.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
View our latest analysis for Norfolk Southern
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Norfolk Southern
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Director, James Squires, sold US$5.2m worth of shares at a price of US$246 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$248. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 18% of James Squires's holding.
Insiders in Norfolk Southern didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart 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 Norfolk Southern better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insiders At Norfolk Southern Have Sold Stock Recently
The last three months saw significant insider selling at Norfolk Southern. In total, Director James Squires sold US$5.2m 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.
Does Norfolk Southern Boast High Insider Ownership?
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Norfolk Southern insiders own 0.1% of the company, worth about US$58m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.