Insiders were net sellers of Sprout Social, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SPT ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders sold more stock than they bought.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Sprout Social Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Justyn Howard, for US$161k worth of shares, at about US$6.76 per share. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$6.75. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive). The only individual insider seller over the last year was Justyn Howard.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insiders At Sprout Social Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Sprout Social. In total, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman Justyn Howard sold US$161k 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 Sprout Social

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. Insiders own 7.4% of Sprout Social shares, worth about US$29m. 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 Sprout Social Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Sprout Social stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We're in no rush to buy! While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. While conducting our analysis, we found that Sprout Social has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

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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.