Investors who take an interest in Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) should definitely note that the Executive VP & CFO, Angela Korch, recently paid US$176 per share to buy US$101k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 96%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Vail Resorts

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, Hilary Schneider, sold US$581k worth of shares at a price of US$226 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$179. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Vail Resorts than they bought, over the last year. 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!

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Insider Ownership Of Vail Resorts

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 1.2% of Vail Resorts shares, worth about US$80m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Vail Resorts Insiders?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. We don't take much heart from transactions by Vail Resorts insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Vail Resorts that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

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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.