The fact that multiple White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE:WTM) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

White Mountains Insurance Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Non-Independent Director, Reid Campbell, sold US$10m worth of shares at a price of US$2,050 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$2,119. 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 32% of Reid Campbell's holding.

White Mountains Insurance Group insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.

Insider Ownership Of White Mountains Insurance Group

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. White Mountains Insurance Group insiders own 3.1% of the company, currently worth about US$166m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The White Mountains Insurance Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded White Mountains Insurance Group shares in the last quarter. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the White Mountains Insurance Group insiders selling. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing White Mountains Insurance Group. While conducting our analysis, we found that White Mountains Insurance Group has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

But note: White Mountains Insurance Group 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.