Multiple insiders secured a larger position in Amcor plc (NYSE:AMCR) shares over the last 12 months. This is reassuring as this suggests that insiders have increased optimism about the company's prospects.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Amcor

Amcor Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when CEO & Director Peter Konieczny bought US$1.0m worth of shares at a price of US$10.05 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of US$10.29. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. Happily, the Amcor insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 264.00k shares for US$2.6m. On the other hand they divested 8.00k shares, for US$91k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Amcor insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) 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!

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

Amcor Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Amcor. In total, insiders bought US$2.6m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership Of Amcor

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Amcor insiders own 0.4% of the company, worth about US$60m. 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 Do The Amcor Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Amcor we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Amcor has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. 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.