Many The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company's shareholders. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for New York Times

New York Times Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the CEO, President & Director, Meredith Kopit Levien, sold US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$40.05 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$47.86. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 33% of Meredith Kopit Levien's holding.

In the last year New York Times insiders didn't buy any company stock. 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 New York Times better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of New York Times

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by 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. It appears that New York Times insiders own 0.6% of the company, worth about US$47m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About New York Times Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded New York Times shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by New York Times insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in New York Times, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course New York Times may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.

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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.