Over the past year, many U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. 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, 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, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for U.S. Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At U.S. Bancorp

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Administration Officer & Vice Chair, Terrance Dolan, sold US$1.0m worth of shares at a price of US$39.75 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$43.26. 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 13% of Terrance Dolan's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 78.36k shares worth US$2.5m. But they sold 84.67k shares for US$3.5m. All up, insiders sold more shares in U.S. Bancorp than they bought, over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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).

Insiders At U.S. Bancorp Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at U.S. Bancorp. In total, insiders dumped US$1.9m 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.

Does U.S. Bancorp 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. U.S. Bancorp insiders own about US$161m worth of shares (which is 0.2% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.