In the last year, many Symbotic Inc. (NASDAQ:SYM) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Symbotic Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chairman of the Board & CEO, Richard Cohen, sold US$108m worth of shares at a price of US$39.69 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$47.08). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was 100% of Richard Cohen's stake.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Symbotic shares, than buying. 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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Symbotic Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Symbotic. In total, Chairman of the Board & CEO Richard Cohen dumped US$108m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership Of Symbotic

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Symbotic insiders own about US$31m worth of shares. That equates to 0.1% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Symbotic Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Symbotic and we suggest you have a look.

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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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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.