Some Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Director, Noel Geer, recently sold a substantial US$1.4m worth of stock at a price of US$141 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 13% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.
Leidos Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Steve Hull, sold US$2.3m worth of shares at a price of US$178 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$144). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
Leidos Holdings insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
See our latest analysis for Leidos Holdings
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Leidos Holdings insiders own about US$118m worth of shares (which is 0.7% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Leidos Holdings Insiders?
An insider hasn't bought Leidos Holdings stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Leidos Holdings makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Leidos Holdings has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.
But note: Leidos Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.