Some Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior VP & Chief U.S. Franchise Operations and Development Officer, Marisa Carona, recently sold a substantial US$4.0m worth of stock at a price of US$370 per share. That diminished their holding by a very significant 100%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.
In fact, the recent sale by Marisa Carona was the biggest sale of Wingstop 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$362. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. 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).
Wingstop insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
View our latest analysis for Wingstop
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).
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. Wingstop insiders own about US$56m worth of shares. That equates to 0.6% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
Insiders haven't bought Wingstop stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Wingstop makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Wingstop has 4 warning signs (3 are concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.
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.