This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Precision Drilling

We wouldn't blame Precision Drilling Corporation (TSE:PD) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Darren Ruhr, the Chief Administrative Officer recently netted about CA$1.5m selling shares at an average price of CA$149. That sale reduced their total holding by 20% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Precision Drilling

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chief Operating Officer, Gene Stahl, for CA$1.7m worth of shares, at about CA$138 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of CA$135. 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).

Precision Drilling insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

View our latest analysis for Precision Drilling

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).

Insider Ownership Of Precision Drilling

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 2.3% of Precision Drilling shares, worth about CA$39m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Precision Drilling Tell Us?

Insiders sold Precision Drilling shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Precision Drilling. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Precision Drilling and understanding this should be part of your investment process.

Of course Precision Drilling 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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