By selling US$222k worth of Gibraltar Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROCK) stock at an average sell price of US$69.84 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. After the stock price dropped 7.0% last week, the company's market value declined by US$95m, but insiders were able to mitigate their losses.

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.

See our latest analysis for Gibraltar Industries

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Gibraltar Industries

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Operating Officer, Patrick Burns, sold US$222k worth of shares at a price of US$69.90 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$40.01. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Patrick Burns was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like Gibraltar Industries better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

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. Gibraltar Industries insiders own about US$11m worth of shares. That equates to 0.8% of the company. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Gibraltar Industries Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Gibraltar Industries insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Our analysis of Gibraltar Industries insider transactions leaves us cautious. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Gibraltar Industries, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course Gibraltar Industries 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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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.