Insider Buying: The Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) Senior VP and Chief Technology & Information Officer Just Bought 87% More Shares

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Senior VP and Chief Technology & Information Officer, Steven Klohn, recently bought a whopping US$503k worth of stock, at a price of US$35.18. That increased their holding by a full 87%, which arguably implies the sort of confidence required for a shy sweet-natured nerd to ask the most popular kid in the school to go out on a date.

Check out our latest analysis for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Director Christopher Morris made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.0m worth of shares at a price of US$30.54 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$35.61. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn’t tell us much about what they think of current prices.

While Dave & Buster’s Entertainment insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn’t sell. Their average price was about US$34.01. These transactions show that insiders have confidence to invest their own money in the stock, albeit at slightly below the recent price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Does Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Boast High Insider Ownership?

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment insiders own 2.9% of the company, worth about US$50m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Insiders likely see value in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). So while it’s helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it’s also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. You’d be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment and we suggest you have a look.

But note: Dave & Buster’s Entertainment may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.