We'd be surprised if Univest Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:UVSP) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Director, Natalye Paquin, recently sold US$491k worth of stock at US$37.80 per share. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 43% in their holding.

Univest Financial Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Natalye Paquin was the biggest sale of Univest Financial shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at below the current price (US$38.27). 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 43% of Natalye Paquin's holding.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Univest Financial shares, than buying. The sellers received a price of around US$35.33, on average. It's not particularly great to see insiders were selling shares at below recent prices. Of course, the sales could be motivated for a multitude of reasons, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Univest Financial better if I see some big insider buys.

Insider Ownership

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Univest Financial insiders own 1.7% of the company, worth about US$18m. 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 Do The Univest Financial Insider Transactions Indicate?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at Univest Financial, in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Univest Financial makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. 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.

But note: Univest Financial may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.