Some STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President, Daniel Carestio, recently sold a substantial US$947k worth of stock at a price of US$214 per share. However, that sale only accounted for 6.5% of their holding, so arguably it doesn't say much about their conviction.

STERIS Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Daniel Carestio is the biggest insider sale of STERIS shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$207. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold 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).

STERIS 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Insider Ownership Of STERIS

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. Insiders own 0.3% of STERIS shares, worth about US$68m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About STERIS Insiders?

An insider sold STERIS 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, STERIS makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. 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 STERIS.

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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.