How Much Are WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF) Insiders Spending On Buying Shares?
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.
Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, 'insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise'.
View our latest analysis for WisdomTree Investments
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At WisdomTree Investments
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Founder Jonathan Steinberg for US$754k worth of shares, at about US$4.26 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$3.38 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 584.57k shares for US$2.4m. On the other hand they divested 6.67k shares, for US$36k. Overall, WisdomTree Investments insiders were net buyers during the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Insider Ownership
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. WisdomTree Investments insiders own about US$76m worth of shares. That equates to 16% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About WisdomTree Investments Insiders?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded WisdomTree Investments shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think WisdomTree Investments insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. 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. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for WisdomTree Investments that deserve your attention before buying any shares.
But note: WisdomTree Investments may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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, but not derivative transactions.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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