Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRCY) shareholders may have reason to be concerned, as several insiders sold their shares over the past year. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Mercury Systems Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP & CFO, David Farnsworth, sold US$265k worth of shares at a price of US$39.49 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$53.86. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 5.3% of David Farnsworth's holding.

Insiders in Mercury Systems 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 click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Mercury Systems better if I see some big insider buys.

Insiders At Mercury Systems Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Mercury Systems. In total, insiders sold US$409k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. This may suggest that some insiders think that the shares are not cheap.

Insider Ownership Of Mercury Systems

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Mercury Systems insiders own 1.6% of the company, worth about US$51m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Mercury Systems Insiders?

Insiders sold Mercury Systems shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Mercury Systems.

Of course Mercury Systems 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.