It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Community Trust Bancorp, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CTBI) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Community Trust Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Community Trust Bancorp

The Executive Vice President, James Draughn, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$237k worth of shares at a price of US$47.36 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$36.50. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. The only individual insider seller over the last year was James Draughn.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 24.18k shares for US$884k. But they sold 5.00k shares for US$237k. In total, Community Trust Bancorp insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. 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. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insiders At Community Trust Bancorp Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Community Trust Bancorp. Overall, two insiders shelled out US$232k for shares in the company -- and none sold. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership Of Community Trust Bancorp

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 4.0% of Community Trust Bancorp shares, worth about US$26m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Community Trust Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Community Trust Bancorp insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Community Trust Bancorp you should know about.