We wouldn't blame Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation (NYSE:WAB) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Eric Gebhardt, the Executive VP & Chief Technology Officer recently netted about US$1.2m selling shares at an average price of US$156. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 25%, which is notable but not too bad.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies

The CEO, President & Director, Rafael Santana, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$5.7m worth of shares at a price of US$141 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$159). 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. This single sale was just 25% of Rafael Santana's stake.

Insiders in Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 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!

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Does Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$186m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies. While conducting our analysis, we found that Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

But note: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 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.