Insiders who bought US$370.0k worth of Altimmune, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ALT) stock at an average buy price of US$3.52 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 18% decrease in the stock. Insiders invest with the hopes of seeing their money grow in value over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$169.4k, which is not what they expected.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
Altimmune Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Chairman Jerome Durso bought US$71k worth of shares at a price of US$3.54 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being US$1.61). While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.
In the last twelve months Altimmune insiders were buying shares, but not selling. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!
View our latest analysis for Altimmune
Altimmune is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.
Insider Ownership Of Altimmune
For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Based on our data, Altimmune insiders have about 0.5% of the stock, worth approximately US$1.8m. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Altimmune Tell Us?
There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Altimmune insiders are doubting the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for Altimmune (3 can't be ignored!) that we believe deserve your full attention.
But note: Altimmune may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
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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