In the last year, many QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

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.

See our latest analysis for QUALCOMM

QUALCOMM Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chief Technology Officer of Qualcomm Technologies, James Thompson, for US$1.2m worth of shares, at about US$120 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$165. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 2.9% of James Thompson's stake.

QUALCOMM insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

QUALCOMM Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at QUALCOMM. In total, Chief Technology Officer of Qualcomm Technologies James Thompson sold US$746k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

Does QUALCOMM Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that QUALCOMM insiders own 0.07% of the company, worth about US$128m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.