Anyone interested in Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCA.A) should probably be aware that a company insider, Juan Montano, recently divested US$255k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$46.38 each. The eyebrow raising move amounted to a reduction of 31% in their holding.

Check out our latest analysis for Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Juan Montano is the biggest insider sale of Republic Bancorp shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$47.03, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 31%of Juan Montano's holding.

All up, insiders sold more shares in Republic Bancorp than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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 Republic Bancorp

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. Insiders own 4.2% of Republic Bancorp shares, worth about US$38m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Republic Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold Republic Bancorp shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But since Republic Bancorp is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! 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. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Republic Bancorp (including 1 which makes us a bit uncomfortable).

But note: Republic Bancorp may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.