Despite Recent Gains, Aquarius Surgical Technologies Insiders Are Still Down CA$157k

Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased CA$196.0k worth of Aquarius Surgical Technologies Inc. (CSE:ASTI) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 100% over the past week. However, the purchase is proving to be an expensive wager as insiders are yet to get ahead of their losses which currently stand at CA$157k since the time of purchase.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Aquarius Surgical Technologies

Aquarius Surgical Technologies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Vice Chairman N. Van Nest made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for CA$196k worth of shares at a price of CA$0.05 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being CA$0.01). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. N. Van Nest was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

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.

Insider Ownership Of Aquarius Surgical Technologies

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 21% of Aquarius Surgical Technologies shares, worth about CA$28k. 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 Aquarius Surgical Technologies Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Aquarius Surgical Technologies insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Insiders do have a stake in Aquarius Surgical Technologies and their transactions don't cause us concern. 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. Be aware that Aquarius Surgical Technologies is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 4 of those make us uncomfortable...

But note: Aquarius Surgical Technologies 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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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.