Over the past year, many ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. 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 insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for ResMed

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At ResMed

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Product Officer, Justin Leong, sold US$10m worth of shares at a price of US$217 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$235, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. 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 72% of Justin Leong's holding.

Insiders in ResMed didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

I will like ResMed better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does ResMed Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that ResMed insiders own 0.5% of the company, worth about US$193m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About ResMed Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. While we feel good about high insider ownership of ResMed, we can't say the same about the selling of shares. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.