We wouldn't blame UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UMBF) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that James Rine, the President & Vice Chairman recently netted about US$1.1m selling shares at an average price of US$133. That sale reduced their total holding by 20% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

UMB Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman & CEO, J. Kemper, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.4m worth of shares at a price of US$129 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$133, 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 1.0% of J. Kemper's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 1.66k shares for US$191k. But insiders sold 74.43k shares worth US$9.1m. All up, insiders sold more shares in UMB Financial than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like UMB Financial better if I see some big insider buys.

Insider Ownership Of UMB Financial

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that UMB Financial insiders own 3.9% of the company, worth about US$399m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At UMB Financial Tell Us?

Insiders sold UMB Financial shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since UMB Financial is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing UMB Financial.

Of course UMB 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.