General Counsel & Secretary Osamu Watanabe Sold A Bunch Of Shares In Moelis

We'd be surprised if Moelis & Company (NYSE:MC) shareholders haven't noticed that the General Counsel & Secretary, Osamu Watanabe, recently sold US$461k worth of stock at US$72.64 per share. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 98% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.

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Moelis Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Osamu Watanabe is the biggest insider sale of Moelis shares that we've seen in the last year. So what is clear is that an insider saw fit to sell at around the current price of US$71.16. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold 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 Moelis didn't buy any shares in 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!

See our latest analysis for Moelis

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Insider Ownership Of Moelis

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Moelis insiders own about US$52m worth of shares. That equates to 0.9% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Moelis Tell Us?

An insider sold Moelis shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. On the plus side, Moelis makes money, and is growing profits. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Moelis. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Moelis you should be aware of.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.