Some Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Executive VP & Chief Commercial Officer, Renato Bacchi, recently sold a substantial US$1.0m worth of stock at a price of US$42.29 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 29% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

Alcoa Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Renato Bacchi is the biggest insider sale of Alcoa shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$41.10. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. Given that the sale took place at around current prices, it makes us a little cautious but is hardly a major concern.

Insiders in Alcoa didn't buy any shares in 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership Of Alcoa

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Alcoa insiders own about US$81m worth of shares. That equates to 0.8% of the company. 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 Do The Alcoa Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold Alcoa shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. 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. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Alcoa you should know about.

Of course Alcoa 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.