Some FirstService Corporation (TSE:FSV) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Director, Frederick Reichheld, recently sold a substantial CA$1.3m worth of stock at a price of CA$216 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 14% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.
FirstService Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The President, D. Patterson, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$10m worth of shares at a price of CA$215 each. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of CA$220, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 32% of D. Patterson's holding.
In the last year FirstService insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!
Check out our latest analysis for FirstService
I will like FirstService better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership Of FirstService
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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. FirstService insiders own 7.1% of the company, currently worth about CA$660m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At FirstService Tell Us?
An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that FirstService is growing earnings. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing FirstService. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for FirstService and we suggest you have a look.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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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