Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Northern Trust

The Chairman & CEO Michael O'Grady made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.3m worth of shares at a price of US$65.10 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$81.35. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$1.7m for 26.83k shares. But they sold 617.00 shares for US$54k. Overall, Northern Trust insiders were net buyers during the last year. 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!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

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. Northern Trust insiders own about US$200m worth of shares (which is 1.2% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Northern Trust Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Northern Trust shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Northern Trust insiders feel good about the company's future. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Northern Trust.

But note: Northern Trust 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.