Some The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:PNC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Lead Director, Andrew Feldstein, recently sold a substantial US$9.9m worth of stock at a price of US$221 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 35% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

PNC Financial Services Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chairman & CEO, William Demchak, sold US$12m worth of shares at a price of US$231 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$221. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

All up, insiders sold more shares in PNC Financial Services Group 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Insider Ownership Of PNC Financial Services Group

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that PNC Financial Services Group insiders own 0.4% of the company, worth about US$317m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The PNC Financial Services Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at PNC Financial Services Group, in the last three months. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since PNC Financial Services Group is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example - PNC Financial Services Group has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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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.