Potential AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) shareholders may wish to note that the Independent Non-Executive Director, Philip John Broadley, recently bought UK£100k worth of stock, paying UK£76.25 for each share. That's a very solid buy in our book, and increased their holding by a noteworthy 23%.

Check out our latest analysis for AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Philip John Broadley is the biggest insider purchase of AstraZeneca shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK£75.42 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

While AstraZeneca insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership of AstraZeneca

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that AstraZeneca insiders own 0.03% of the company, worth about UK£30m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The AstraZeneca Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of AstraZeneca we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for AstraZeneca you should be aware of, and 1 of these is concerning.

Of course AstraZeneca may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

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, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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