It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Matador Resources Company's (NYSE:MTDR) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
Check out our latest analysis for Matador Resources
The Founder Joseph Foran made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$129k worth of shares at a price of US$51.47 each. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$59.60), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.
In the last twelve months Matador Resources insiders were buying shares, but not selling. 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!
Matador Resources is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.
Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Matador Resources. Overall, four insiders shelled out US$233k for shares in the company -- and none sold. That shows some optimism about the company's future.
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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Matador Resources insiders own 5.4% of the company, worth about US$415m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
The recent insider purchases are heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Matador Resources insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. Looks promising! In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Matador Resources. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Matador Resources and we suggest you have a look.
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.
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.
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