Although ASGN Incorporated (NYSE:ASGN)’s value has fallen 10% in the past week, insiders who sold $13 million worth of shares over the past 12 months have been less successful. Since the average sell price of $95.89 is still below the current share price, insiders would likely have been better off holding onto their shares.
Although insider transactions are not the most important thing in long-term investing, logic dictates that you should pay attention to whether insiders are buying or selling stocks.
Check out our latest analysis for ASGN
The last 12 months of insider transactions at ASGN
The largest single sale by an insider in the last twelve months was the sale of US$7.5 million worth of shares by independent director Edwin Sheridan at a price of US$104 per share. While insider selling is a negative, for us it is even more negative when the shares are sold at a lower price. It is some comfort that this sale was made at a price well above the current share price of US$85.15, so it may not shed much light on current insider confidence.
ASGN insiders have not purchased any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year in the graph below. If you click on the graph, you can see all the individual transactions, including share price, individual, and date!
I’ll like ASGN better if I see some big insider buying. While we wait, check out this free List of undervalued stocks and small cap stocks with significant recent insider buying.
Insider ownership
I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company to get an idea of how well they work with insiders. I consider it a good sign when insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. ASGN insiders own 3.4% of the company, which is currently worth about $129 million based on the current share price. Such a significant percentage of insider ownership generally increases the chance that the company is being run in the best interests of all shareholders.
So what do ASGN’s insider transactions mean?
The fact that there have been no insider transactions at ASGN recently certainly doesn’t bother us. While we are pleased to see high insider ownership at ASGN, we cannot say the same about the sale of shares. In addition to knowing about ongoing insider transactions, it is beneficial to identify the risks facing ASGN. You will be interested to know that we have found 1 warning sign for ASGN and we recommend you take a look.
Naturally, If you look elsewhere, you may find a fantastic investment. So take a look at the free List of interesting companies.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulator. Currently, we only consider open market transactions and private disposals of direct holdings, but not derivative transactions or indirect holdings.
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This Simply Wall St article is of a general nature. We comment solely on the basis of historical data and analyst forecasts, using an unbiased methodology. Our articles do not constitute financial advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take into account your objectives or financial situation. Our goal is to provide you with long-term analysis based on fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not take into account the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative materials. Simply Wall St does not hold any of the stocks mentioned.
