One American Assets Trust Insider Raised Their Stake In The Previous Year
Viewing insider transactions for American Assets Trust, Inc.'s (NYSE:AAT ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net buyers. This means that a larger number of shares were purchased by insiders in relation to shares sold.
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
The Chairman & CEO Ernest Rady made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$5.7m worth of shares at a price of US$17.99 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$21.64. 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.
Ernest Rady bought 600.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$18.27. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
American Assets Trust is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.
Does American Assets Trust Boast High 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. It's great to see that American Assets Trust insiders own 11% of the company, worth about US$187m. 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 American Assets Trust Tell Us?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded American Assets Trust shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. 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. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To that end, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with American Assets Trust (including 2 which are a bit concerning).
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.
