Investors who take an interest in Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX:TAH) should definitely note that the Independent Chairman, Bruce Akhurst, recently paid AU$1.03 per share to buy AU$258k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 33%.

Check out our latest analysis for Tabcorp Holdings

Tabcorp Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when MD, CEO & Executive Director Adam Rytenskild bought AU$1.0m worth of shares at a price of AU$1.01 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$0.95). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Tabcorp Holdings insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. 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!

Tabcorp Holdings is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.4% of Tabcorp Holdings shares, worth about AU$7.6m, according to our data. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Tabcorp Holdings Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Tabcorp Holdings insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Tabcorp Holdings has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

But note: Tabcorp Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.