It is how long to defrost a 10 lb prime ribnot uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. 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 we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in

Parker-Hannifin Corporation

(

NYSE:PH

).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

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 it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’

Check out our latest analysis for Parker-Hannifin

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Parker-Hannifin

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when Andrew Weeks sold US$440k worth of shares at a price of US$169 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$148. While their view may have changed since the sale, this is not a particularly positive fact. We usually pause to reflect on the potential that a stock has a high valuation, if insiders have been selling at around the current price.

In the last twelve months insiders netted US$1.5m for 8.97k shares sold. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Parker-Hannifin shares, than buying. The average sell price was around US$172. It’s not ideal to see that insiders have sold at around the current price. But we don’t put too much weight on the insider selling, since sellers could have personal reasons. You can see the insider transactions over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

NYSE:PH Insider Trading January 1st 19

I will like Parker-Hannifin better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this

free

list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Parker-Hannifin Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Parker-Hannifin insiders own about US$117m worth of shares (which is 0.6% 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.

Story continues

What Might The Insider Transactions At Parker-Hannifin Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Parker-Hannifin insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. It’s great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back at the last year, we don’t gain confidence from the Parker-Hannifin insiders selling. Of course,

the future is what matters most

. So if you are interested in Parker-Hannifin, you should check out this

free

report on analyst forecasts for the company

.

If you would prefer to check out another company — one with potentially superior financials — then do not miss this

free

list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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

[email protected]

.

View comments

• ·Can Ero Copper Corp. (TSE:ERO) Maintain Its Strong Returns?
• ·January 2019 Issue
• ·S.Korea's Hyundai target 2019 global sales of 4.7 mln vehicles
• ·World stocks edge down ahead of US jobs report
• ·Otter Tail (OTTR) Tops Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• ·Cathay Pacific makes good on first-class ticket blunder
• ·What Kind Of Investor Owns Most Of Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:MRT.UN)?
• ·China's Jangho makes $1.2 bln bid for Australian medical centre owner Healius
• ·Is Now An Opportune Moment To Examine Unicaja Banco, S.A. (BME:UNI)?
• ·Looking At Schneider National, Inc. (NYSE:SNDR) From All Angles
• ·Why Palo Alto Networks Has Spent Over $1 Billion on Acquisitions
• ·How Gun Safety Laws Have (And Haven’t) Changed Since Pulse & What Still Needs to Be Done
• ·Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) Reports Q3 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates
• ·Resolutions 2019: Budget Your Way to Financial Goals
• ·Consider This Commodity ETF in January
• ·Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal Movie Post-Credit Scene Explained: Sequel Chances Look Good