We'd be surprised if Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB) shareholders haven't noticed that the CEO, President & Director, Robert Johnson, recently sold US$398k worth of stock at US$108 per share. Equally important, that sale actually reduced their holding by a full 100% which hardly makes us feel bullish about the stock.

Check out our latest analysis for Silicon Laboratories

Silicon Laboratories Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Robert Johnson was the biggest sale of Silicon Laboratories shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$118, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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 100% of Robert Johnson's holding.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Silicon Laboratories insiders own 1.9% of the company, worth about US$68m. 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 Do The Silicon Laboratories Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! While we like knowing 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. Be aware that Silicon Laboratories is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those makes us a bit uncomfortable...

But note: Silicon Laboratories 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.

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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.