Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) insiders must be relieved to have sold shares as market valuation dips to $20 billion

Insiders to Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) sold $262,000 worth of stock at an average price of $109 per share over the past year, making the most of their investment. The company’s market capitalization fell $748 million after prices fell 3.6% last week, but insiders were able to limit their loss to some degree.

While we don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider trades, we think it makes perfect sense to keep an eye on what insiders are doing.

The Last 12 Months of Insider Trading at Live Nation Entertainment

In the past twelve months, the largest single insider purchase was when Independent Director James Kahan purchased US$260,000 worth of stock at US$100 per share. This means that an insider was happy to buy shares above the current price of US$90.36. Although their perspective has changed since the purchase, it at least suggests that they have confidence in the future of the company. We always take careful note of the price paid by insiders when buying stocks. Generally speaking, it catches our attention when an insider has bought stocks at prices higher than the current price, because it suggests that they thought the stock was worth buying, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy in the past year was James Kahan.

Over the past year, we’ve seen more insider selling of Live Nation Entertainment stock than buying. You can see a visual representation of insider trading (by companies and individuals) over the past 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you will be able to see the precise detail of each insider trade!

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Live Nation Entertainment insiders recently sold shares

We’ve seen quite a bit of insider selling at Live Nation Entertainment over the past three months. Independent director Jeffrey Hinson sold for just US$50,000 worth of stock at that time. It’s not great to see insider sales, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the volume sold is so low that we really don’t mind.

Insider ownership

Examining the total insider holdings in a company can help you know if they are well aligned with common shareholders. We generally like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It’s great to see that Live Nation Entertainment insiders own 2.3% of the company, worth approximately $465 million. Most shareholders would be happy to see this type of insider ownership, as it suggests that management’s incentives are well aligned with those of other shareholders.

So what do Live Nation Entertainment’s insider trading indicate?

Although there has been no insider buying in the past three months, there have been some selling. However, the sales are not big enough to worry us at all. While we’re happy with Live Nation Entertainment’s insider ownership, we can’t say the same about the stock sale. While we like to know what’s going on with insider ownership and trading, we also make sure to consider the risks a stock faces before making any investment decisions. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Live Nation Entertainment that deserve your attention before buying shares.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are persons who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently record open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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