It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited's (HKG:998) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for China CITIC Bank

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At China CITIC Bank

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Executive VP & Executive Director Cheng Liu bought HK$1.5m worth of shares at a price of HK$3.29 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than HK$3.22 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While China CITIC Bank insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. 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!

China CITIC Bank is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

China CITIC Bank Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at China CITIC Bank. In total, insiders bought HK$2.7m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership Of China CITIC Bank

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our data suggests China CITIC Bank insiders own 0.01% of the company, worth about HK$29m. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. We prefer to see high levels of insider ownership.

So What Do The China CITIC Bank Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of China CITIC Bank we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. 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 China CITIC Bank has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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, 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.