Potential Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBIO) shareholders may wish to note that the President, James Green, recently bought US$128k worth of stock, paying US$3.19 for each share. Although the purchase only increased their holding by 3.2%, it is still a solid purchase in our view.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Harvard Bioscience
In fact, the recent purchase by President James Green was not their only trade of Harvard Bioscience shares this year. Earlier in the year, they sold shares at a price ofUS$8.02 per share in a -US$386k transaction. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$3.25). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!
I will like Harvard Bioscience better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Insider Ownership Of Harvard Bioscience
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Harvard Bioscience insiders own about US$17m worth of shares. That equates to 12% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.
So What Do The Harvard Bioscience Insider Transactions Indicate?
It is good to see the recent insider purchase. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. The more recent transactions are a positive, but Harvard Bioscience insiders haven't shown the sustained enthusiasm that we look for, although they do own a decent number of shares, overall. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 2 warning signs for Harvard Bioscience that deserve your attention before buying any shares.
Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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, but not derivative transactions.
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