WEBULL

Have AJ Bell Insiders Been Selling Stock?

Simply Wall St · 08/22 05:00

Some AJ Bell plc (LON:AJB) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the CEO, Member of the Management Board & Executive Director, Michael Summersgill, recently sold a substantial UK£436k worth of stock at a price of UK£5.13 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 14% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At AJ Bell

Notably, that recent sale by Michael Summersgill is the biggest insider sale of AJ Bell shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of UK£5.16, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 14% of Michael Summersgill's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 24.87k shares worth UK£98k. But insiders sold 512.87k shares worth UK£2.4m. All up, insiders sold more shares in AJ Bell than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

See our latest analysis for AJ Bell

insider-trading-volume
LSE:AJB Insider Trading Volume August 22nd 2025

I will like AJ Bell 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.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. AJ Bell insiders own 18% of the company, currently worth about UK£382m based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Do The AJ Bell Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought AJ Bell stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. On the plus side, AJ Bell makes money, and is growing profits. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing AJ Bell. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with AJ Bell (including 1 which is concerning).

Of course AJ Bell may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

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.