We'd be surprised if USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA) shareholders haven't noticed that the Chief Sales Officer, David Mulham, recently sold US$106k worth of stock at US$30.26 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 28% in their holding.
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief People Officer, Paul Jones, sold US$240k worth of shares at a price of US$38.38 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$28.86. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
Insiders in USANA Health Sciences didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
View our latest analysis for USANA Health Sciences
I will like USANA Health Sciences 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.
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. It's great to see that USANA Health Sciences insiders own 41% of the company, worth about US$226m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.
Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that USANA Health Sciences has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.
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 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.