Insiders were net buyers of Universal Music Group N.V.'s (AMS:UMG ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders bought more stock than they sold.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Universal Music Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Universal Music Group

The Non-Independent & Non-Executive Director William Ackman made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for €6.4m worth of shares at a price of €23.34 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is €23.99. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider bought shares at close to current prices. William Ackman was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

William Ackman bought a total of 536.33k shares over the year at an average price of €23.33. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and 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!

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

Insider Ownership Of Universal Music Group

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. Universal Music Group insiders own about €12b worth of shares (which is 28% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Universal Music Group Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Universal Music Group shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Universal Music Group insiders feel good about the company's future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Universal Music Group that deserve your attention before buying any shares.