In the last year, many Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

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.

Check out our latest analysis for Microchip Technology

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Microchip Technology

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Executive Chair, Stephen Sanghi, for US$3.4m worth of shares, at about US$93.99 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$88.08. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

Insiders in Microchip Technology didn't buy any shares in 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!

I will like Microchip Technology better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Microchip Technology Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Microchip Technology. In total, insiders sold US$3.4m 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.

Does Microchip Technology Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that Microchip Technology insiders own 2.1% of the company, worth about US$990m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.