We'd be surprised if Peoples Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:PEBO) shareholders haven't noticed that the President, Tyler Wilcox, recently sold US$250k worth of stock at US$29.01 per share. That sale was 18% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Peoples Bancorp

Notably, that recent sale by Tyler Wilcox is the biggest insider sale of Peoples Bancorp shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$30.00. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 18%of Tyler Wilcox's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 10.20k shares for US$261k. But they sold 11.32k shares for US$333k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Peoples Bancorp than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Insider Ownership Of Peoples Bancorp

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 3.8% of Peoples Bancorp shares, worth about US$40m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Peoples Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?

The stark truth for Peoples Bancorp is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Peoples Bancorp. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Peoples Bancorp and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

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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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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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.