The fact that multiple Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) 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, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
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.
View our latest analysis for Microsoft
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the President & Vice Chairman, Bradford Smith, sold US$20m worth of shares at a price of US$412 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$410. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it’s not too bad (but it’s still not a positive).
Insiders in Microsoft didn’t buy any shares in the last year. 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!
For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Microsoft shares. Specifically, insiders ditched US$46m worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.
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. It’s great to see that Microsoft insiders own 0.03% of the company, worth about US$998m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
Insiders sold Microsoft shares recently, but they didn’t buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn’t show any insider buying. But since Microsoft is profitable and growing, we’re not too worried by this. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn’t make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it’s beneficial to identify the risks facing Microsoft. You’d be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Microsoft and we suggest you have a look.
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