Some A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRK) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Director & Consultant, Michael Wittmeyer, recently sold a substantial US$583k worth of stock at a price of US$26.06 per share. However, that sale only accounted for 4.7% of their holding, so arguably it doesn't say much about their conviction.

A-Mark Precious Metals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Michael Wittmeyer was the biggest sale of A-Mark Precious Metals shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$26.55, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 4.7% of Michael Wittmeyer's holding.

Insiders in A-Mark Precious Metals didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like A-Mark Precious Metals better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that A-Mark Precious Metals insiders own 17% of the company, worth about US$103m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At A-Mark Precious Metals Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought A-Mark Precious Metals stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for A-Mark Precious Metals (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: A-Mark Precious Metals 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.