Insiders at Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB) sold US$2.8m worth of stock at an average price of US$174 a share over the past year, making the most of their investment. The company's market cap plunged by US$611m after price dropped by 12% last week but insiders were able to limit their loss to an extent.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Silicon Laboratories

Silicon Laboratories Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Chairman, Navdeep Sooch, for US$1.6m worth of shares, at about US$159 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$128. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last year Silicon Laboratories insiders didn't buy any company stock. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. Insiders own 2.1% of Silicon Laboratories shares, worth about US$99m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Silicon Laboratories Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Silicon Laboratories insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

Of course Silicon Laboratories may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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, but not derivative transactions.

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