We wouldn't blame Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE:ELV) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Charles Kendrick, the Executive VP and President of Commercial & Specialty Health Benefits recently netted about US$1.2m selling shares at an average price of US$500. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 17%, which is notable but not too bad.

Elevance Health Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Charles Kendrick was the biggest sale of Elevance Health 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$509). 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. This single sale was just 17% of Charles Kendrick's stake.

In the last year Elevance Health 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 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 growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Elevance Health

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Elevance Health insiders own about US$173m worth of shares (which is 0.1% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Elevance Health Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold Elevance Health shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that Elevance Health is growing earnings. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Elevance Health. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Elevance Health.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.