Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Chairman & CEO, Michael O’Grady, recently bought a whopping US$1.3m worth of stock, at a price of US$65.10. There's no denying a buy of that magnitude suggests conviction in a brighter future, although we do note that proportionally it only increased their holding by 8.3%.

View our latest analysis for Northern Trust

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Northern Trust

Notably, that recent purchase by Michael O’Grady is the biggest insider purchase of Northern Trust shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being US$63.54). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 26.82k shares worth US$1.7m. But insiders sold 605.00 shares worth US$53k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Northern Trust insiders. 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!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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. Northern Trust insiders own 1.2% of the company, currently worth about US$158m based on the recent share price. 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 Do The Northern Trust Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about Northern Trust. Looks promising! Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Northern Trust.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.

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.