By selling US$655k worth of Oak Street Health, Inc. (NYSE:OSH) stock at an average sell price of US$50.89 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company’s market cap plunged by US$393m after price dropped by 9.0% last week but insiders were able to limit their loss to an extent.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Oak Street Health
The Chief Innovation Officer & Director, Geoffrey Price, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$600k worth of shares at a price of US$62.55 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$16.46. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
Insiders in Oak Street Health didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Oak Street Health Insiders Are Selling The Stock
The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Oak Street Health shares. In total, insiders dumped US$54k 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 Oak Street Health 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Oak Street Health insiders own 10% of the company, worth about US$408m. 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 Oak Street Health Insider Transactions Indicate?
Insiders haven't bought Oak Street Health 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. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Oak Street Health you should be aware of.
Of course Oak Street Health may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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, but not derivative transactions.
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