Many Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Wingstop Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The President, Michael Skipworth, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.1m worth of shares at a price of US$340 each. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$338. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).
In the last year Wingstop insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Insider Ownership
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Wingstop insiders own 0.3% of the company, worth about US$29m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Wingstop Tell Us?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Wingstop shares in the last quarter. Our analysis of Wingstop insider transactions leaves us cautious. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Wingstop (including 1 which can't be ignored).
Of course Wingstop 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 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.
