Over the last year, a good number of insiders have significantly increased their holdings in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). This is encouraging because it indicates that insiders are more optimistic about the company’s prospects.

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.

Intel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Lip-Bu Tan bought US$2.5m worth of shares at a price of US$37.92 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$23.32 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it’s very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

While Intel insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn’t sell. 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 plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Intel
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. It appears that Intel insiders own 0.05% of the company, worth about US$55m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Intel Tell Us?
It doesn’t really mean much that no insider has traded Intel shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don’t see anything to make us think Intel insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While it’s good to be aware of what’s going on with the insider’s ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Intel that deserve your attention before buying any shares.