Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Heather Smith, the Independent Non-Executive Director of Challenger Limited (ASX:CGF) recently shelled out AU$67k to buy stock, at AU$6.67 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, by either a percentage standpoint or absolute value, it can be seen as a good sign.

Check out our latest analysis for Challenger

Challenger Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The MD, CEO & Director Richard Howes made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$958k worth of shares at a price of AU$3.83 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of AU$6.55. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 360.00k shares worth AU$1.4m. But insiders sold 100.00k shares worth AU$384k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Challenger insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) 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!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Our data indicates that Challenger insiders own about AU$12m worth of shares (which is 0.3% of the company). We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Challenger Tell Us?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Insiders likely see value in Challenger shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). 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. When we did our research, we found 3 warning signs for Challenger (1 is a bit concerning!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Challenger 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, 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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