Over the past year, many Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Steven Madden

Steven Madden Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Founder and Creative & Design Chief, Steven Madden, for US$5.2m worth of shares, at about US$34.86 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$36.66). When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. 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 6.0% of Steven Madden's stake.

Insiders in Steven Madden didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. 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.

Does Steven Madden Boast High 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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Steven Madden insiders own about US$146m worth of shares (which is 5.3% 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.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Steven Madden Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Steven Madden insider transactions don't fill us with confidence. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Steven Madden. While conducting our analysis, we found that Steven Madden has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.