Insider Buyers Lose Additional AU$17k As Morella Dips To AU$37m

Insiders who bought AU$125k worth of Morella Corporation Limited's (ASX:1MC) stock at an average buy price of AU$0.007 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 14% decrease in the stock. Insiders purchase with the hope of seeing their investments increase in value over time. However, due to recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth AU$108k, which is not great.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Morella

Morella Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Non-Executive Director Allan Charles Buckler for AU$125k worth of shares, at about AU$0.007 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.006. 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. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Allan Charles Buckler. Notably Allan Charles Buckler was also the biggest seller.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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.

Have Morella Insiders Traded Recently?

We saw Non-Executive Director Allan Charles Buckler buy shares worth AU$125k in the last three months. But that was only a smidgen more than the AU$125k worth of sales. Overall, we don't think these recent trades are particularly informative, one way or the other.

Does Morella Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Morella insiders own 27% of the company, worth about AU$10m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Morella Tell Us?

We can't make any useful conclusions about recent trading, since insider buying and selling has been balanced. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders own shares in Morella and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 5 warning signs for Morella you should be aware of, and 2 of them don't sit too well with us.

Of course Morella 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.