Looking at Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.'s (NYSE:HLT ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.

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.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The President, Christopher Nassetta, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$4.3m worth of shares at a price of US$194 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$253, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 0.7% of Christopher Nassetta's stake. Christopher Nassetta was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.4m for 6.75k shares. On the other hand they divested 22.10k shares, for US$4.3m. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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).

Insider Ownership Of Hilton Worldwide Holdings

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Hilton Worldwide Holdings insiders own about US$1.1b worth of shares (which is 1.8% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Hilton Worldwide Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Hilton Worldwide Holdings insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Hilton Worldwide Holdings insiders selling. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Hilton Worldwide Holdings.

Of course Hilton Worldwide Holdings 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.