Some Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ:HLIT) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Ian Graham, recently sold a substantial US$577k worth of stock at a price of US$10.95 per share.    That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 45%, which is notable but not too bad.    

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Harmonic

The Senior VP & GM of Broadband Business, Nimrod Ben-Natan, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.3m worth of shares at a price of US$12.95 each.   While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price.  It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$10.85.  So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.  

In the last year Harmonic insiders didn't buy any company stock.    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!

NasdaqGS:HLIT Insider Trading Volume May 8th 2024

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Harmonic

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own.  I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company.   It appears that Harmonic insiders own 2.5% of the company, worth about US$32m.  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 Does This Data Suggest About Harmonic Insiders?

Insiders haven't  bought Harmonic stock in the last three months, but there was some selling.     And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases.    On the plus side, Harmonic makes money, and is growing profits.    Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company.  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.    For example - Harmonic has 3 warning signs we think you should be aware of.  

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.