Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in CRH plc (NYSE:CRH) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

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.

CRH Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Group Chief Executive & Executive Director, Albert Manifold, for US$2.8m worth of shares, at about US$82.50 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$81.11. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$5.0m for 63.00k shares. But they sold 38.49k shares for US$3.2m. In total, CRH insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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.

Insiders At CRH Have Bought Stock Recently

There has been significantly more insider buying, than selling, at CRH, over the last three months. In fact, two insiders bought US$4.3m worth of shares. But we did see insider selling worth US$3.2m. We think insiders may be optimistic about the future, since insiders have been net buyers of shares.

Insider Ownership Of CRH

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. CRH insiders own about US$21m worth of shares. That equates to 0.04% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CRH Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest CRH insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that CRH has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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.

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.