Some COG Financial Services Limited (ASX:COG) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Executive Director and Head of Finance Broking & Aggregation, Cameron McCullagh, recently sold a substantial AU$20m worth of stock at a price of AU$1.00 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 45% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At COG Financial Services

In fact, the recent sale by Cameron McCullagh was the biggest sale of COG Financial Services shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (AU$1.08). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 45% of Cameron McCullagh's holding.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid AU$294k for 296.34k shares. But they sold 20.00m shares for AU$20m. 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!

View our latest analysis for COG Financial Services

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Insider Ownership Of COG Financial Services

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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 25% of COG Financial Services shares, worth about AU$55m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The COG Financial Services Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. On the plus side, COG Financial Services makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 shouldn't be ignored!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in COG Financial Services.

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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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.