We'd be surprised if Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) shareholders haven't noticed that the VP & CTO, Carlonda Reilly, recently sold US$398k worth of stock at US$33.12 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 32% in their holding.

Kennametal Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the VP & Chief Administrative Officer, Judith Bacchus, for US$1.6m worth of shares, at about US$40.23 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$32.90. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Insiders in Kennametal didn't buy any shares in 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!

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

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Kennametal insiders own about US$21m worth of shares. That equates to 0.8% 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 Kennametal Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought Kennametal 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. But since Kennametal is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Kennametal.

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.

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.