Mark Hunter Is The Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of The Artisanal Spirits Company plc (LON:ART) And They Just Picked Up 35% More Shares

Investors who take an interest in The Artisanal Spirits Company plc (LON:ART) should definitely note that the Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Mark Hunter, recently paid UK£0.73 per share to buy UK£240k worth of the stock. That's a very decent purchase to our minds and it grew their holding by a solid 35%.

Check out our latest analysis for Artisanal Spirits

Artisanal Spirits Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Mark Hunter was the biggest purchase of Artisanal Spirits shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That implies that an insider found the current price of UK£0.76 per share to be enticing. 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. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Artisanal Spirits insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Artisanal Spirits insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. 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!

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.

Does Artisanal Spirits Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 14% of Artisanal Spirits shares, worth about UK£7.4m, according to our data. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Artisanal Spirits Insiders?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that Artisanal Spirits insiders are expecting a bright future. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (2 are significant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Artisanal Spirits.

But note: Artisanal Spirits 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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.