Yahoo Finance Who Has Been Selling Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) Shares?
We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK).
What Is Insider Selling?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
Check out our latest analysis for Stryker
Stryker Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Howard Cox made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$164 each. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$155. They might be selling for a variety of reasons, but it’s hard to argue this is a bullish sign. We usually pause to reflect on the potential that a stock has a high valuation, if insiders have been selling at around the current price.
All up, insiders sold more shares in Stryker than they bought, over the last year. The average sell price was around US$165. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insiders at Stryker Have Sold Stock Recently
There was substantially more insider selling, than buying, of Stryker shares over the last three months. We note insiders cashed in US$700k worth of shares. On the flip side, Independent Director Frederic Doliveux spent US$7.4k on purchasing shares. We don’t view these transactions as a positive sign.
Does Stryker Boast High Insider Ownership?
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. It’s great to see that Stryker insiders own 12% of the company, worth about US$7.0b. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Stryker Tell Us?
Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Stryker stock, than buying, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn’t give us much comfort. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we’re a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Stryker.
But note: Stryker 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.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
