Some City Holding Company (NASDAQ:CHCO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President, Charles Hageboeck, recently sold a substantial US$896k worth of stock at a price of US$124 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 13% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

City Holding Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by President Charles Hageboeck was not the only time they sold City Holding shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$899k worth of shares at a price of US$101 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$123. 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 14% of Charles Hageboeck's holding.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of City Holding shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insider Ownership Of City Holding

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. City Holding insiders own about US$42m worth of shares. That equates to 2.3% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The City Holding Insider Transactions Indicate?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of City Holding stock, than buying, in the last three months. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. But since City Holding is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing City Holding. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with City Holding (including 1 which is potentially serious).

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com