We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So before you buy or sell Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

What Is Insider Buying?

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, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’

See our latest analysis for Oxford Industries

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Oxford Industries

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when Executive VP of Law & Administration Thomas Campbell sold US$385k worth of shares at a price of US$76.97 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$74.81. 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 17.92k shares for a total of US$1.4m. In total, Oxford Industries insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The average sell price was around US$78.02. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. Since insiders sell for many reasons, we wouldn’t put too much weight on it. The chart below shows insider transactions over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Oxford Industries insiders own about US$37m worth of shares (which is 2.9% 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 Does This Data Suggest About Oxford Industries Insiders?

It doesn’t really mean much that no insider has traded Oxford Industries shares in the last quarter. Our analysis of Oxford Industries insider transactions leaves us cautious. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

But note: Oxford Industries 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.

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.