Investors who take an interest in Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:STRA) should definitely note that the Independent Director, Viet Dinh, recently paid US$115 per share to buy US$494k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 40%.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Strategic Education

Notably, that recent purchase by Viet Dinh is the biggest insider purchase of Strategic Education shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$121. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. Happily, the Strategic Education insider decided to buy shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Viet Dinh.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Strategic Education Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. Strategic Education insiders own about US$95m worth of shares. That equates to 3.3% 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 Strategic Education Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Strategic Education we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Strategic Education and we suggest you have a look.

But note: Strategic Education 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.

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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