Over the past year, many Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Kinder Morgan

The Independent Director, C. Shaper, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$22m worth of shares at a price of US$24.75 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$28.00). 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 9.5% of C. Shaper's holding.

In total, Kinder Morgan insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. 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 Kinder Morgan

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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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Kinder Morgan insiders own about US$7.9b worth of shares (which is 13% of the company). 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 Kinder Morgan Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Kinder Morgan insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. While we feel good about high insider ownership of Kinder Morgan, we can't say the same about the selling of shares. 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Kinder Morgan and we suggest you have a look.