Did The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) Insiders Buy More Stock?

We often see insiders buying back shares of companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we would be remiss not to mention that insider selling is known to precede tough times for a business. So before you buy or sell Mosaic company (NYSE: MOS), you might want to know if any insiders have bought or sold.

What is insider selling?

It is quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading company shares from time to time. However, most countries require the company to disclose these transactions to the market.

We never suggest that investors base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have done. But it makes perfect sense to keep an eye on what insiders are doing. As Peter Lynch said, “Insiders can sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for one only: they think the price will go up.”

Check out our latest analysis for Mosaic

The last 12 months of insider trading at Mosaic

CEO, Chairman and Director James O’Rourke made the biggest insider buy in the past 12 months. This one-time transaction involved US $ 201,000 of shares priced at US $ 13.43 each. We love to see the purchase, but this purchase was made at a much lower price than the current price of US $ 28.64. While this suggests that insiders view the stock as undervalued at lower prices, this trade doesn’t tell us much about what they think about current prices.

Over the past twelve months, Mosaic insiders have been buying shares, but not selling them. The average purchase price was approximately US $ 11.80. In my opinion, it is good that some insiders have invested their own money in the business. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the stock price was significantly below current levels. The chart below shows insider trading (by companies and individuals) over the past year. By clicking on the chart below, you can see the exact details of each insider trade!

There are many other companies that have insiders who buy stocks. You probably do do not want to miss it free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Mosaic claim high insider ownership?

For an ordinary shareholder, it is worth checking the number of shares held by insiders of the company. High insider participation often makes company executives more attentive to the interests of shareholders. It appears that Mosaic insiders own 0.2% of the company, worth around US $ 23 million. We’ve certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest an alignment between insiders and other shareholders.

So what do Mosaic insider trading indicate?

There haven’t been any insider trades in the past three months – that doesn’t mean much. But insiders have shown a greater appetite for action over the past year. Insiders own stock in Mosaic and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. So these insider trading can help us build a thesis on the stock, but it’s also worth knowing the risks this company faces. Concrete example: we have spotted 2 warning signs for Mosaic you need to be aware of that, and one of them is concerning.

Of course Mosaic may not be the best stock to buy. Then you might want to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are the people who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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This Simply Wall St article is general in nature. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell stocks, and does not take into account your goals or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term, targeted analysis based on fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not take into account the latest announcements from price sensitive companies or qualitative information. Simply Wall St has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.
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