Despite the fact that American Coastal Insurance Corporation's (NASDAQ:ACIC) value has dropped 12% in the last week insiders who sold US$218k worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Given that the average selling price of US$11.86 is still lower than the current share price, insiders would probably have been better off keeping their shares.

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.

American Coastal Insurance Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the COO & Chief Information Officer, Christopher Griffith, for US$218k worth of shares, at about US$11.86 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$10.13. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels. Christopher Griffith was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 5.60k shares for US$63k. But insiders sold 18.41k shares worth US$218k. 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!

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).

Does American Coastal Insurance Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. American Coastal Insurance insiders own 49% of the company, currently worth about US$253m based on the recent share price. 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 Does This Data Suggest About American Coastal Insurance Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the American Coastal Insurance insiders selling. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing American Coastal Insurance.

Of course American Coastal Insurance may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection 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 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.