Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) Independent Director, Ivan Brockman, recently bought US$50k worth of stock, for US$5.02 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 36%.
Vera Bradley Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Lead Independent Director Andrew Meslow for US$590k worth of shares, at about US$1.98 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$5.08. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.
Vera Bradley insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. Their average price was about US$2.29. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
See our latest analysis for Vera Bradley
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).
Insider Ownership Of Vera Bradley
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Vera Bradley insiders own 34% of the company, worth about US$49m. 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 Vera Bradley Tell Us?
It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Vera Bradley we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright 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. When we did our research, we found 2 warning signs for Vera Bradley (1 can't be ignored!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
Of course Vera Bradley 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.