How Many Insiders Sold WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) Shares?
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Buying?
It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. 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.’
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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At WesBanco
Director Charlotte Zuschlag made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$495k worth of shares at a price of US$49.50 each. That is hardly a positive sign, even though it took place above the latest price (US$38.41). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.
All up, insiders sold more shares in WesBanco than they bought, over the last year. They sold for an average price of about US$48.36. Insider selling doesn’t make us excited to buy. But we note that the selling, on average, was at well above the recently traded price of US$38.41. The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
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 of WesBanco
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it’s a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. WesBanco insiders own about US$64m worth of shares. That equates to 3.1% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
What Might The Insider Transactions At WesBanco Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no WesBanco insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. We don’t take much encouragement from the transactions by WesBanco insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in WesBanco, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
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.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
