Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased AU$685k worth of The GPT Group (ASX:GPT) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 3.3% over the past week. However, the purchase is proving to be a costly gamble, since losses made by insiders have totalled AU$50k since the time of purchase.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for GPT Group

GPT Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, MD & Director Robert Johnston for AU$500k worth of shares, at about AU$5.30 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being AU$4.65). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

GPT Group insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! insider-trading-volume

GPT Group is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this freelist of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. GPT Group insiders own about AU$16m worth of shares. That equates to 0.2% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.



What Might The Insider Transactions At GPT Group Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no GPT Group insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in GPT Group and their transactions don't cause us concern. 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 GPT Group has 4 warning signs (2 are significant!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course GPT Group may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this freecollection 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, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content?Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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