Potential China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. (SHSE:600036) shareholders may wish to note that the First Executive VP, Liang Wang, recently bought CN¥767k worth of stock, paying CN¥38.33 for each share. While that's a very decent purchase to our minds, it was proportionally a bit modest, boosting their holding by just 8.0%.

See our latest analysis for China Merchants Bank

China Merchants Bank Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Liang Wang is the biggest insider purchase of China Merchants Bank shares that we've seen in the last year. That implies that an insider found the current price of CN¥39.12 per share to be enticing. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. The good news for China Merchants Bank share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Liang Wang.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) 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!

China Merchants Bank is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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. China Merchants Bank insiders own about CN¥138m worth of shares. That equates to 0.01% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The China Merchants Bank Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about China Merchants Bank. One for the watchlist, at least! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 1 warning sign for China Merchants Bank you should be aware of.

Of course China Merchants Bank may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

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.