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Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In CrowdStrike Holdings

Simply Wall St ·  Nov 17, 2023 18:37

We wouldn't blame CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Burt Podbere, the Chief Financial Officer recently netted about US$6.1m selling shares at an average price of US$200. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 17%, which is notable but not too bad.

View our latest analysis for CrowdStrike Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CrowdStrike Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, Roxanne Austin, sold US$8.4m worth of shares at a price of US$153 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$204). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 47% of Roxanne Austin's holding. Notably Roxanne Austin was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$7.4m worth of shares.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of CrowdStrike Holdings shares, than buying. 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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NasdaqGS:CRWD Insider Trading Volume November 17th 2023

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that CrowdStrike Holdings insiders own 4.4% of the company, worth about US$2.1b. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The CrowdStrike Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought CrowdStrike Holdings stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. 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 CrowdStrike Holdings has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

But note: CrowdStrike Holdings 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.

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