It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. 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 BlackBerry Limited (TSE:BB).

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia 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'.

View our latest analysis for BlackBerry

BlackBerry Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director, Barbara Stymiest, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$85k worth of shares at a price of CA$8.48 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 CA$6.69. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Barbara Stymiest was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$152k for 30.00k shares. On the other hand they divested 10.00k shares, for CA$85k. In total, BlackBerry insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

BlackBerry is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. BlackBerry insiders own about CA$55m worth of shares. That equates to 1.4% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About BlackBerry Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded BlackBerry shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in BlackBerry and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for BlackBerry.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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