Insiders Sold €1.3m Of Biokarpet Stock Possibly Sending Warning Sign

Even though Biokarpet S.A. (ATH:BIOKA) stock gained 11% last week, insiders who sold €1.3m worth of stock over the past year are probably better off. Selling at an average price of €2.79, which is higher than the current price, may have been the wisest decision for these insiders as their investment would have been worth less now than when they sold.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Biokarpet

Biokarpet Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman of the Board & CEO, Ioannis Kantonias, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for €452k worth of shares at a price of €2.74 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of €2.08. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Ioannis Kantonias. Notably Ioannis Kantonias was also the biggest buyer, having purchased €20k worth of shares.

Ioannis Kantonias divested 463.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of €2.79. 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!

I will like Biokarpet 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

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It's great to see that Biokarpet insiders own 40% of the company, worth about €20m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Biokarpet Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Biokarpet insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Biokarpet insiders selling. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Biokarpet. Be aware that Biokarpet is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is potentially serious...

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.