President of Barrick Gold Dennis Bristow Buys 1.8% More Shares
Barrick Gold Corporation (TSE:ABX) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the President, Dennis Bristow, recently bought a whopping CA$2.4m worth of stock, at a price of CA$22.25. There's no denying a buy of that magnitude suggests conviction in a brighter future, although we do note that proportionally it only increased their holding by 1.8%.
View our latest analysis for Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In fact, the recent purchase by President Dennis Bristow was not their only trade of Barrick Gold shares this year. They previously made a sale of -CA$4.9m worth of shares at a price of CA$23.15 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of CA$23.64. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 3.4%of Dennis Bristow's holding.
Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.02m shares worth CA$22m. On the other hand they divested 345.12k shares, for CA$7.8m. Overall, Barrick Gold insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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.
Insider Ownership
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. 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 Barrick Gold insiders own 0.6% of the company, worth about CA$260m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Barrick Gold Tell Us?
It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Along with the high insider ownership, this analysis suggests that insiders are quite bullish about Barrick Gold. One for the watchlist, at least! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Barrick Gold. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Barrick Gold (1 shouldn't be ignored!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.
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.
