We'd be surprised if Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) shareholders haven't noticed that the Executive VP and Chief People, Sean Woodroffe, recently sold US$498k worth of stock at US$45.28 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 19% in their holding.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Lincoln National

The Executive VP, Craig Beazer, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.0m worth of shares at a price of US$34.45 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$42.15). 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was 57% of Craig Beazer's stake.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 2.30k shares for US$94k. But they sold 90.57k shares for US$3.3m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Lincoln National shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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 Lincoln National Boast High Insider Ownership?

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.5% of Lincoln National shares, worth about US$42m. 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 Do The Lincoln National Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought Lincoln National stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But since Lincoln National is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 3 warning signs (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Lincoln National.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.