We wouldn't blame Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Richard McNeely, the Chief Merchandising Officer recently netted about US$2.0m selling shares at an average price of US$94.62. That sale reduced their total holding by 41% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.
In fact, the recent sale by Richard McNeely was the biggest sale of Dollar Tree shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$94.21. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 26.70k shares for US$1.9m. But they sold 23.68k shares for US$2.2m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Dollar Tree shares, than buying. 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!
View our latest analysis for Dollar Tree
If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.08% of Dollar Tree shares, worth about US$16m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at Dollar Tree, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! 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. To assist with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Dollar Tree.
Of course Dollar Tree 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.