Investors who take an interest in loanDepot, Inc. (NYSE:LDI) should definitely note that the Founder, Anthony Hsieh, recently paid US$0.91 per share to buy US$431k worth of the stock. We reckon that's a good sign, especially since the purchase boosted their holding by 217%.

loanDepot Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Founder Anthony Hsieh was not the only time they traded loanDepot shares this year. Earlier in the year, they sold shares at a price ofUS$3.25 per share in a -US$6.7m transaction. 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$0.88. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In total, loanDepot insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like loanDepot better if I see some big insider buys.

Does loanDepot Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. loanDepot insiders own about US$15m worth of shares. That equates to 4.8% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At loanDepot Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. While recent transactions indicate confidence in loanDepot, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing loanDepot.

Of course loanDepot 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.