When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Anpario plc’s (LON:ANP) instance, it’s good news for shareholders.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
See our latest analysis for Anpario
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Corporate Responsibility Director Karen Prior for UK£114k worth of shares, at about UK£3.80 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK£3.78. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. We note that Karen Prior was both the biggest buyer and the biggest seller.
In the last twelve months insiders purchased 40.51k shares for UK£139k. On the other hand they divested 14.00k shares, for UK£53k. In total, Anpario insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
At Anpario,over the last quarter, we have observed quite a lot more insider buying than insider selling. We can see that Corporate Responsibility Director Karen Prior paid UK£114k for shares in the company. But Corporate Responsibility Director Karen Prior sold shares worth UK£53k. We think insiders may be optimistic about the future, since insiders have been net buyers of shares.
Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Anpario insiders own 13% of the company, worth about UK£10m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.