3 FTSE 100 stocks being bought or sold by company insiders

Company directors buying or selling shares in their own companies are very attractive to investors. Of course, there are various reasons why a director may or may not own shares. But regardless of the underlying reason, having a shareholding means that they have an interest in making the business successful long-term. They have skin in the game! Here are some FTSE 100 shares recently bought or sold by the top team.

Selling from a long time employee

The first FTSE 100 company to come under the spotlight for director conduct is Next. Merchandise and operations director Richard Papp sold 5,300 shares last week. This comes to a value of £344,817.46.

The next share has performed well recently, up 8% in a year but rallying 37% in the past six months. For insiders, this can be considered a good opportunity to sell some shares. After all, Papp has been with the business since 1991. Therefore, I imagine he has accumulated a chunky stock in the process.

However, investors may view this with caution, especially after last month’s annual report warned of a difficult 2023.

Multiple buy orders after strong results

A small number of company directors buy shares have been noted last week with Pearson. The publishing and education company performed well last year, with sales up 5% and adjusted operating profit up 11% from 2021.

Chairman Omid Kordestani and Deputy Chairman Team Score bought shares. Between the two of them, the total cost is just under £84,000.

In my opinion, these purchases are likely to be linked to solid 2022 financial results. Both of them have a good understanding of the business goals. Through joint purchases, I will show them that they believe the future is bright.

Mixed signals from insiders

A good example of how investors should be careful in the interpretation of buying and selling can be noted through Martin Brand on London Stock Exchange Group.

At the end of last month, he bought 9,971 shares worth £778,435.97. He is a non-executive director, which means he is independent in the business and has a separate day job.

This big buy may have investors excited about big things to come for the stock. But in the same week, he sold a total of 20,117 shares! Finally, last week he bought 14,301 shares. In total, the monetary value of the purchase and sale means that the net purchase amount is smaller.

I don’t know why, whether it has something to do with taxes or something. But this last case reminds us that not all director affairs indicate potential future success or obstacles for the stock. Some are just for other unrelated reasons.