Over the past year, many American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AXL) 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 we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Norman Willemse, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$533k worth of shares at a price of US$9.00 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$7.59. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Insiders in American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings 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 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: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership Of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings insiders own 2.3% of the company, worth about US$21m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings shares in the last quarter. Our analysis of American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings insider transactions leaves us cautious. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings (of which 1 is potentially serious!) you should know about.

Of course American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings 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.