Have Insiders Been Selling TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST) Shares?

We’ve lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we’ll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in TrustCo Bank Corp NY (NASDAQ:TRST).

What Is Insider Buying?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. As Peter Lynch said, ‘insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise.’

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TrustCo Bank Corp NY Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Director William Powers made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$173k worth of shares at a price of US$8.65 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$7.46. They might be selling for a variety of reasons, but it’s hard to argue this is a bullish sign. Arguably, insider selling at around current prices should give us reason to reflect on whether the stock is fully valued at the moment.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$154k for 19.32k shares. But they sold 23.74k for US$206k. All up, insiders sold more shares in TrustCo Bank Corp NY than they bought, over the last year. The average sell price was around US$8.70. We don’t gain much confidence from insider selling near the recent share price. 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 (by 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!

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If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insiders at TrustCo Bank Corp NY Have Bought Stock Recently

It’s good to see that TrustCo Bank Corp NY insiders have made notable investments in the company’s shares. In total, insiders bought US$101k worth of shares in that time, and we didn’t record any sales whatsoever. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Insider Ownership of TrustCo Bank Corp NY

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. TrustCo Bank Corp NY insiders own about US$20m worth of shares. That equates to 2.8% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.