Have Insiders Been Selling Versarien plc (LON:VRS) Shares?
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. On the other hand, we’d be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Versarien plc (LON:VRS).
Do Insider Transactions Matter?
Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock on the market. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.
We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that ‘insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.’
View our latest analysis for Versarien
Versarien Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Executive Chairman & CEO Neill Ricketts made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK£489k worth of shares at a price of UK£1.21 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at below the current price (UK£1.25). While sellers have a variety of reasons for selling, this isn’t particularly great to see. When an insider sells below the current price, it does tend to make us wonder about the current valuation. Please note, however, that this single sale was just 2.6% of Neill Ricketts’s stake. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Neill Ricketts.
Neill Ricketts divested 653.72k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£0.98. The chart below shows insider transactions 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!
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership of Versarien
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It’s great to see that Versarien insiders own 13% of the company, worth about UK£26m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Versarien Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no Versarien insider transactions recently certainly doesn’t bother us. Our analysis of Versarien insider transactions leaves us cautious. But it’s good to see that insiders own shares in the company. I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
