Anyone interested in Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) should probably be aware that the Executive VP, Craig Read, recently divested US$151k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$33.54 each. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 9.3%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.
Citizens Financial Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Notably, that recent sale by Craig Read is the biggest insider sale of Citizens Financial Group shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$34.24. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 9.3%of Craig Read's holding.
Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$144k for 5.30k shares. On the other hand they divested 4.51k shares, for US$151k. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
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Does Citizens Financial Group Boast High Insider Ownership?
Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Citizens Financial Group insiders own about US$108m worth of shares (which is 0.7% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Does This Data Suggest About Citizens Financial Group Insiders?
An insider sold Citizens Financial Group shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Citizens Financial Group. For example - Citizens Financial Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
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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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