Yahoo Finance AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) insiders sold US$6.3m worth of stock, possibly signalling a downtrend
In the last year, many AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
See our latest analysis for AbbVie
AbbVie Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive VP & Chief Commercial Officer, Jeffrey Stewart, for US$4.8m worth of shares, at about US$152 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$159, 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 33% of Jeffrey Stewart's holding.
AbbVie insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
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Insiders At AbbVie Have Sold Stock Recently
The last three months saw significant insider selling at AbbVie. Specifically, insiders ditched US$6.3m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.
Insider Ownership
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that AbbVie insiders own 0.1% of the company, worth about US$302m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
So What Do The AbbVie Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders sold AbbVie shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But since AbbVie 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. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that AbbVie has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.
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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.
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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.
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