Insiders who purchased JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) earlier this year lose an additional US$29k as the stock sinks to US$107
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Insiders who purchased JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) earlier this year lose an additional US$29k as the stock sinks to US$107

Simply Wall St
·3-min read

The recent price decline of 9.6% in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s (NYSE:JPM) stock may have disappointed insiders who bought US$100k worth of shares at an average price of US$150 in the past 12 months. Insiders purchase with the hope of seeing their investments increase in value over time. However, due to recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$72k, which is not great.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for JPMorgan Chase

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At JPMorgan Chase

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Mellody Hobson bought US$100k worth of shares at a price of US$150 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being US$107). 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. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Mellody Hobson.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

insider-trading-volume

JPMorgan Chase is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that JPMorgan Chase insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$2.6b. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About JPMorgan Chase Insiders?

The fact that there have been no JPMorgan Chase insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like JPMorgan Chase insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in JPMorgan Chase, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

Of course JPMorgan Chase 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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