We wouldn't blame Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Gregory Zikos, the CFO & Director recently netted about US$918k selling shares at an average price of US$15.34. That diminished their holding by a very significant 100%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

Costamare Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Gregory Zikos was the biggest sale of Costamare shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$15.58, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was 100% of Gregory Zikos's holding.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Does Costamare Boast High 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Costamare insiders own 59% of the company, worth about US$1.1b. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Costamare Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold Costamare shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision.

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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.