Insider Stock Buying Reaches US$1.30m On NBT Bancorp
Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
Check out our latest analysis for NBT Bancorp
NBT Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Timothy Delaney bought US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$29.77 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$35.90), we still think insider buying is a positive. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.3m for 43.00k shares. But they sold 10.64k shares for US$391k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by NBT Bancorp insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
NBT Bancorp Insiders Are Selling The Stock
We've seen more insider selling than insider buying at NBT Bancorp recently. We note insiders cashed in US$320k worth of shares. Meanwhile Executive VP & CFO Scott Kingsley bought US$71k worth. The share price has moved a bit recently, but it's hard to argue that the selling is a positive.
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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that NBT Bancorp insiders own 3.2% of the company, worth about US$51m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Does This Data Suggest About NBT Bancorp Insiders?
The stark truth for NBT Bancorp is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. On the other hand, the insider transactions over the last year are encouraging. We like that insiders own a fair amount of the company. So we're happy enough to look past some selling. 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. For example - NBT Bancorp has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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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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.
