Who Has Been Selling Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ:TCX) Shares?
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It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ:TCX), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.
What Is Insider Selling?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, rules govern insider transactions, and certain disclosures are required.
We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. 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.’
See our latest analysis for Tucows
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Tucows
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by Independent Director Jeffrey Schwartz for US$937k worth of shares, at about US$62.76 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$70.41, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. While sellers have a variety of reasons for selling, this isn’t particularly great to see. When an insider sells below the current price, it does tend to make us wonder about the current valuation. It is worth noting that this sale was only 49% of Jeffrey Schwartz’s holding.
In total, Tucows insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The average sell price was around US$61.60. It’s not particularly great to see insiders were selling shares at below recent prices. But we wouldn’t put too much weight on the insider selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
I will like Tucows better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insiders at Tucows Have Sold Stock Recently
The last three months saw significant insider selling at Tucows. In total, insiders sold US$675k 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.
Insider Ownership of Tucows
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Tucows insiders own about US$107m worth of shares (which is 14% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Do The Tucows Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders sold Tucows shares recently, but they didn’t buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn’t give us much comfort. On the plus side, Tucows makes money, and is growing profits. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we’re a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Tucows, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
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.
