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The fact that multiple Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
Waste Management Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President, James Fish, sold US$10m worth of shares at a price of US$228 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$234. 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. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 12% of James Fish's holding.
Insiders in Waste Management didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
See our latest analysis for Waste Management
I will like Waste Management 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.
Insiders At Waste Management Have Sold Stock Recently
Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Waste Management. Specifically, insiders ditched US$20m 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
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. Waste Management insiders own about US$165m worth of shares (which is 0.2% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.