Insider Buyers Lose kr152k As Ocean GeoLoop Sheds kr40m

The recent 15% drop in Ocean GeoLoop AS' (OB:OCEAN) stock could come as a blow to insiders who purchased kr1.05m worth of stock at an average buy price of kr5.03 over the past 12 months. Insiders buy with the expectation to see their investments rise in value over a period of time. However, recent losses have rendered their above investment worth kr898.7k which is not ideal.

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 Ocean GeoLoop

Ocean GeoLoop Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chief Commercial Officer Ove Lande made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for kr716k worth of shares at a price of kr4.50 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of kr4.30. 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 insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Notably Ove Lande was also the biggest seller.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid kr1.1m for 209.00k shares. But they sold 159.00k shares for kr716k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Ocean GeoLoop insiders. Their average price was about kr5.03. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. 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!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Ocean GeoLoop insiders own 65% of the company, worth about kr147m. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Ocean GeoLoop Tell Us?

Insider sales and purchases have netted out over the last three months, so it's hard to draw any conclusion from recent trading. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like Ocean GeoLoop insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Ocean GeoLoop. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Ocean GeoLoop has 3 warning signs (1 can't be ignored!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course Ocean GeoLoop may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.