National Vision Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EYE) shareholders may have reason to be concerned, as several insiders sold their shares over the past year. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

National Vision Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Ravi Acharya, sold US$225k worth of shares at a price of US$18.76 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$27.42, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was 51% of Ravi Acharya's holding.

Insiders in National Vision Holdings didn't buy any shares in 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 National Vision Holdings better if I see some big insider buys.

Does National Vision Holdings 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. National Vision Holdings insiders own about US$47m worth of shares. That equates to 2.1% 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 Do The National Vision Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no National Vision Holdings insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Our analysis of National Vision Holdings insider transactions leaves us cautious. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for National Vision Holdings.

But note: National Vision Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.