Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Linamar Corporation (TSE:LNR) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Linamar

Linamar Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Executive Chairman of the Board & CEO Linda Hasenfratz made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$2.9m worth of shares at a price of CA$57.89 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of CA$69.25. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 53.67k shares worth CA$3.1m. On the other hand they divested 14.77k shares, for CA$901k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Linamar insiders. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Linamar Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Linamar. Specifically, insiders ditched CA$167k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership Of Linamar

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Linamar insiders own about CA$1.5b worth of shares (which is 34% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Linamar Tell Us?

Insiders sold Linamar shares recently, but they didn't buy any. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. On top of that, insiders own a significant portion of the company. So we're happy to look past recent trading. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Linamar, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.