Some Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the President & CEO of Hilltop Securities Inc., Martin Winges, recently sold a substantial US$1.0m worth of stock at a price of US$32.61 per share. That diminished their holding by a very significant 58%, which arguably implies a strong desire to reallocate capital.

Hilltop Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Hillel Feinberg, sold US$1.2m worth of shares at a price of US$32.99 per share. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$32.86. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

In the last year Hilltop Holdings 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!

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Does Hilltop Holdings Boast High 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. Hilltop Holdings insiders own about US$622m worth of shares (which is 29% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Hilltop Holdings Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Hilltop Holdings has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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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.