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In the last year, many W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. 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, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At W.W. Grainger
Notably, that recent sale by Deidra Merriwether is the biggest insider sale of W.W. Grainger shares that we've seen in the last year. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$965. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).
In the last year W.W. Grainger insiders didn't buy any company stock. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
See our latest analysis for W.W. Grainger
I will like W.W. Grainger 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.
W.W. Grainger Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw significant insider selling at W.W. Grainger. In total, insiders dumped US$1.5m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.
Insider Ownership
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that W.W. Grainger insiders own 8.3% of the company, worth about US$3.7b. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.