The fact that multiple Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) insiders offloaded a considerable amount of shares over the past year could have raised some eyebrows amongst investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Intuit

Intuit Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive VP and GM of Small Business & Self Employed Group, Marianna Tessel, sold US$4.8m worth of shares at a price of US$553 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$626). When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 21% of Marianna Tessel's holding.

Intuit insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, 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: insiders have been buying them).

Intuit Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Intuit. In total, insiders dumped US$3.9m 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

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Intuit insiders own 2.8% of the company, currently worth about US$4.9b based on the recent share price. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.