Altice USA Sees Insider Stock Selling

Insiders were net sellers of Altice USA, Inc.'s (NYSE:ATUS ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders sold more stock than they bought.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

We've discovered 3 warning signs about Altice USA. View them for free.

Altice USA Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Director, Patrick Drahi, sold US$20m worth of shares at a price of US$25.68 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$2.46). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Patrick Drahi.

Patrick Drahi divested 12.08m shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$18.65. 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!

See our latest analysis for Altice USA

I will like Altice USA better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Altice USA

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that Altice USA insiders own 43% of the company, worth about US$491m. 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 Do The Altice USA Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Altice USA insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Altice USA insiders selling. While it's good to be aware of 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. To assist with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Altice USA.

Of course Altice USA 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 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.