Metals Exploration Non-Executive Director Acquires 11% More Stock

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Metals Exploration plc (LON:MTL) Non-Executive Director, Robert Marshall, recently bought UK£63k worth of stock, for UK£0.077 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 11%.

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Metals Exploration Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Non-Executive Director, Andrew Chubb, for UK£169k worth of shares, at about UK£0.067 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of UK£0.083. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 38% of Andrew Chubb's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 1.89m shares for UK£126k. But they sold 4.67m shares for UK£310k. In total, Metals Exploration insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. They sold for an average price of about US$0.066. We don't gain confidence from insider selling below the recent share price. But we wouldn't put too much weight on the insider selling. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

See our latest analysis for Metals Exploration

I will like Metals Exploration better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Metals Exploration

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. Metals Exploration insiders own about UK£28m worth of shares. That equates to 13% of the company. 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 Metals Exploration Insider Transactions Indicate?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. We don't take much heart from transactions by Metals Exploration insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. So they seem pretty well aligned, overall. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example, Metals Exploration has 4 warning signs (and 2 which are potentially serious) we think you should know about.

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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.