Investors may wish to note that an insider of Vertu Motors plc, Chris Taylor, recently netted UK£40k from selling stock, receiving an average price of UK£0.83. It wasn't a huge sale, but it did reduce their holding by 19%. This does not instill confidence.
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the COO & Executive Director, David Crane, sold UK£650k worth of shares at a price of UK£0.65 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of UK£0.85, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was 78% of David Crane's stake.
In the last year Vertu Motors insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
See our latest analysis for Vertu Motors
For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
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 3.0% of Vertu Motors shares, worth about UK£7.8m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. But given the selling was modest, we're not worried. Recent sales exacerbate our caution arising from analysis of Vertu Motors insider transactions. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Vertu Motors has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.