Some Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Todd Pendleton, recently sold a substantial US$648k worth of stock at a price of US$54.55 per share. That diminished their holding by a very significant 100%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Dolby Laboratories

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, Kevin Yeaman, for US$2.2m worth of shares, at about US$67.54 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold 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$55.26. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Insiders in Dolby Laboratories didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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 Dolby Laboratories Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Dolby Laboratories insiders own about US$85m worth of shares. That equates to 1.6% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Dolby Laboratories Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing.

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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.