First Pacific Insiders Sold US$308m Of Shares Suggesting Hesitancy

Simply Wall St · 07/04 22:19

Many First Pacific Company Limited (HKG:142) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. 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.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At First Pacific

The CEO, MD & Executive Director, Manuel Pangilinan, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for HK$306m worth of shares at a price of HK$4.48 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (HK$5.77). 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was 97% of Manuel Pangilinan's stake.

Insiders in First Pacific 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

View our latest analysis for First Pacific

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SEHK:142 Insider Trading Volume July 4th 2025

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First Pacific Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of First Pacific shares. In total, insiders sold HK$2.5m 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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that First Pacific insiders own 27% of the company, worth about HK$6.7b. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At First Pacific Tell Us?

Insiders haven't bought First Pacific stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. On the plus side, First Pacific makes money, and is growing profits. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example, First Pacific has 3 warning signs (and 1 which is potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.