Anyone interested in Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) should probably be aware that the Global Chief Executive Officer of Anthropologie Group, Tricia Smith, recently divested US$414k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$35.29 each. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 100% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Urban Outfitters

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the COO & Co-President, Francis Conforti, for US$1.5m worth of shares, at about US$42.64 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$34.43). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Insiders in Urban Outfitters didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Does Urban Outfitters Boast High 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. Urban Outfitters insiders own about US$905m worth of shares (which is 28% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Urban Outfitters Tell Us?

Insiders haven't bought Urban Outfitters 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. But it is good to see that Urban Outfitters is growing earnings. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Urban Outfitters has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

But note: Urban Outfitters 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.