Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL) Insiders Have Been Selling

We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL).

What Is Insider Selling?

It’s quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Colombia University study found that ‘insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers’.

View our latest analysis for Jones Lang LaSalle

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Jones Lang LaSalle

CEO of Americas Business Segment & Member of Global Executive Board Gregory O’Brien made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.8m worth of shares at a price of US$169 each. Although we don’t gain confidence from insider selling, we note that this large sale was at well above current price of US$125. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

In the last twelve months insiders netted US$2.9m for 17.48k shares sold. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Jones Lang LaSalle shares, than buying. The average sell price was around US$163. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price of US$125. While some insiders have decided to take some money off the table, we wouldn’t put too much weight on this fact. You can see the insider transactions 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 alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Jones Lang LaSalle Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we’ve seen significant insider selling at Jones Lang LaSalle. Specifically, Global CEO of Capital Markets & Member of Global Executive Board Richard Bloxam ditched US$148k worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it’s not the be all and end all.

Does Jones Lang LaSalle 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. Jones Lang LaSalle insiders own about US$43m worth of shares (which is 0.8% 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 Jones Lang LaSalle Tell Us?

An insider sold Jones Lang LaSalle shares recently, but they didn’t buy any. And there weren’t any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. While insiders do own shares, they don’t own a heap, and they have been selling. We’d think twice before buying! If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

If you would prefer to check out another company — one with potentially superior financials — then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.

The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.