It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ:NATI).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’
Check out our latest analysis for National Instruments
National Instruments Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when James Truchard sold US$5.6m worth of shares at a price of US$45.21 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$44.58. They could have a variety of motivations for selling, but it’s still not particularly encouraging to see. We generally tread carefully if insiders have been selling on market, even if they sold slightly above the current price.
All up, insiders sold more shares in National Instruments than they bought, over the last year. The sellers received a price of around US$45.75, on average. It’s not particularly great to see insiders were selling shares around current prices. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. The chart below shows insider transactions over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
I will like National Instruments better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
National Instruments Insiders Are Selling The Stock
Over the last three months, we’ve seen significant insider selling at National Instruments. In total, insiders dumped US$395k worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.