Some Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:WTFC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Vice Chairman & COO, David Dykstra, recently sold a substantial US$2.2m worth of stock at a price of US$163 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 11%, which is notable but not too bad.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Wintrust Financial

Notably, that recent sale by David Dykstra is the biggest insider sale of Wintrust Financial shares that we've seen in the last year. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$162. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

In the last year Wintrust Financial insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Wintrust Financial insiders own 1.3% of the company, worth about US$145m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The Wintrust Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold Wintrust Financial shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. On the plus side, Wintrust Financial makes money, and is growing profits. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company.

But note: Wintrust Financial may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.

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.