Anchorstone Holdings Insiders Miss 30% Gain After Offloading Stock

Last week, Anchorstone Holdings Limited's (HKG:1592) stock jumped 30%, but insiders who sold HK$1.9m worth of stock in over the past year are likely to be in a better position. Selling at an average price of HK$0.075, which is higher than the current price might have been the right call as holding on to stock would have meant their investment would be worth less now than it was at the time of sale.

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.

View our latest analysis for Anchorstone Holdings

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Anchorstone Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chairman & CEO, Yue Yun Lui, sold HK$964k worth of shares at a price of HK$0.08 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (HK$0.026). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Notably Yue Yun Lui was also the biggest buyer, having purchased HK$1.3m worth of shares.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 20.99m shares worth HK$1.3m. On the other hand they divested 25.30m shares, for HK$1.9m. In total, Anchorstone Holdings insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The average sell price was around HK$0.075. Insider selling doesn't make us excited to buy. But the selling was at much higher prices than the current share price (HK$0.026), so it probably doesn't tell us a lot about the value on offer today. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insider Ownership Of Anchorstone Holdings

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Anchorstone Holdings insiders own 94% of the company, currently worth about HK$52m based on the recent share price. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Anchorstone Holdings Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Anchorstone Holdings insiders selling. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Anchorstone Holdings. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Anchorstone Holdings has 4 warning signs (3 shouldn't be ignored!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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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.