Some Telos Corporation (NASDAQ:TLS) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Executive VP & CFO, Gary Bendza, recently sold a substantial US$1.1m worth of stock at a price of US$4.31 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 29% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Telos

The Independent Director, Fredrick Schaufeld, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.7m worth of shares at a price of US$6.79 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$4.90). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Telos insiders didn't buy any shares 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!

I will like Telos better if I see some big insider buys.

Insider Ownership Of Telos

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Telos insiders own about US$57m worth of shares. That equates to 17% of the company. 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 Telos Insiders?

Insiders sold Telos shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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.

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.