We note that the C&F Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CFFI) Independent Director, Elizabeth Rilee-Kelley, recently sold US$75k worth of stock for US$73.00 per share. It might not be a huge sale, but it did reduce their holding size 20%, hardly encouraging.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At C&F Financial

The President, Thomas Cherry, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$86k worth of shares at a price of US$71.00 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$75.48). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 3.0% of Thomas Cherry's stake.

Insiders in C&F Financial didn't buy any shares in 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!

I will like C&F Financial better if I see some big insider buys.

Does C&F Financial 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. C&F Financial insiders own about US$17m worth of shares. That equates to 7.1% 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.

So What Does This Data Suggest About C&F Financial Insiders?

Insiders sold C&F Financial shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. But since C&F Financial 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. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in C&F Financial.

Of course C&F Financial 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.