We'd be surprised if Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shareholders haven't noticed that the Chief Operating Officer, Rajneesh Kapoor, recently sold US$409k worth of stock at US$164 per share. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 60% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Wingstop
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Director, Kilandigalu Madati, for US$704k worth of shares, at about US$261 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$166). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.
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 want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
Check out our latest analysis for Wingstop
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.
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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 0.7% of Wingstop shares, worth about US$32m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Wingstop Insiders?
Insiders sold Wingstop shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For instance, we've identified 4 warning signs for Wingstop (2 are significant) you should be aware of.
But note: Wingstop 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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