This American Assets Trust Insider Increased Their Holding In The Last Year
From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in American Assets Trust, Inc.'s (NYSE:AAT ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Check out our latest analysis for American Assets Trust
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At American Assets Trust
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chairman & CEO Ernest Rady for US$5.7m worth of shares, at about US$17.99 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$18.44. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider bought shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Ernest Rady.
Ernest Rady bought a total of 680.00k shares over the year at an average price of US$19.06. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
American Assets Trust is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Insider Ownership
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. American Assets Trust insiders own about US$161m worth of shares (which is 11% 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.
So What Do The American Assets Trust Insider Transactions Indicate?
The fact that there have been no American Assets Trust insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like American Assets Trust insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for American Assets Trust you should be aware of, and 2 of these don't sit too well with us.
Of course American Assets Trust may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
