Investors who take an interest in Starz Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ:STRZ) should definitely note that the President, Jeffrey Hirsch, recently paid US$24.80 per share to buy US$248k worth of the stock. Although the purchase only increased their holding by 6.4%, it is still a solid purchase in our view.

Starz Entertainment Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Non-Executive Chair, Michael Burns, sold US$2.1m worth of shares at a price of US$11.76 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$25.01). 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. 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 71% of Michael Burns's holding. Michael Burns was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 91.80k shares worth US$1.4m. On the other hand they divested 282.50k shares, for US$3.1m. Michael Burns divested 282.50k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$11.01. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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).

Does Starz Entertainment Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 3.0% of Starz Entertainment shares, worth about US$12m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Starz Entertainment Tell Us?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. But we can't say the same for the transactions over the last 12 months. The more recent transactions are a positive, but Starz Entertainment insiders haven't shown the sustained enthusiasm that we look for, although they do own a decent number of shares, overall. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.