Who Has Been Selling Brooks Automation, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKS) Shares?
We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Brooks Automation, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKS).
What Is Insider Buying?
It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. 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 logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Colombia University study found that ‘insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers’.
See our latest analysis for Brooks Automation
Brooks Automation Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when CEO, President & Director Stephen Schwartz sold US$2.9m worth of shares at a price of US$30.93 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$25.93. They could have a variety of motivations for selling, but it’s still not particularly encouraging to see. We generally tread carefully if insiders have been selling on market, even if they sold slightly above the current price.
We note that in the last year insiders divested 339.62k shares for a total of US$10m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Brooks Automation shares, than buying. The sellers received a price of around US$30.42, on average. It’s not ideal to see that insiders have sold at around the current price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn’t put too much weight on it. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Brooks Automation Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last three months saw significant insider selling at Brooks Automation. Specifically, insiders ditched US$9.1m worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it’s not the be all and end all.
Does Brooks Automation Boast High Insider Ownership?
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Brooks Automation insiders own about US$44m worth of shares (which is 2.4% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Brooks Automation Tell Us?
Insiders haven’t bought Brooks Automation stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look to the last year, we didn’t see any purchases. On the plus side, Brooks Automation makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we’re still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We’re in no rush to buy! Therefore, you should should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Brooks Automation.
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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.
