Several Insiders Invested In Harvard Bioscience Flagging Positive News
It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in Harvard Bioscience, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HBIO) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.
Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.
See our latest analysis for Harvard Bioscience
Harvard Bioscience Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
The President James Green made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$110k worth of shares at a price of US$4.38 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$4.57. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Harvard Bioscience insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.
In the last twelve months Harvard Bioscience insiders were buying shares, but not selling. They paid about US$3.10 on average. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they bought when the share price was meaningfully below today's levels. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. 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 growing companies that insiders are buying.
Insider Ownership
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. 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 Harvard Bioscience insiders own 7.6% of the company, worth about US$15m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.
So What Do The Harvard Bioscience Insider Transactions Indicate?
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Harvard Bioscience shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders own shares in Harvard Bioscience and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Harvard Bioscience you should know about.
Of course Harvard Bioscience may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.
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 of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.
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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.
