Quaker Chemical Corporation (NYSE:KWR) 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, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Quaker Chemical Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Senior VP & CTO, David Slinkman, sold US$285k worth of shares at a price of US$168 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$122). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Quaker Chemical shares, than buying. 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!

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Insiders At Quaker Chemical Have Bought Stock Recently

We saw some Quaker Chemical insider buying shares in the last three months. CEO, President & Director Joseph Berquist shelled out US$50k for shares in that time. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

Insider Ownership Of Quaker Chemical

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Quaker Chemical insiders own about US$20m worth of shares. That equates to 1.0% 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 Quaker Chemical Insiders?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). That said, the purchases were not large. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Quaker Chemical insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Quaker Chemical.

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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.