Erik Langaker Is The Director of Zalaris ASA (OB:ZAL) And They Just Picked Up 1.1% More Shares

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Zalaris ASA (OB:ZAL) Director, Erik Langaker, recently bought kr540k worth of stock, for kr54.04 per share. However, it only increased their shares held by 1.1%, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

View our latest analysis for Zalaris

Zalaris Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Founder & CEO, Hans-Petter Mellerud, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for kr7.4m worth of shares at a price of kr37.00 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of kr53.40. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent 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. This single sale was just 6.5% of Hans-Petter Mellerud's stake.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 253.26k shares worth kr10m. On the other hand they divested 250.74k shares, for kr9.1m. Overall, Zalaris insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Zalaris is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership of Zalaris

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 24% of Zalaris shares, worth about kr254m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Zalaris Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Zalaris insiders are well aligned, and quite possibly think the share price is too low. Nice! While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Be aware that Zalaris is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are concerning...

Of course Zalaris 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, but not derivative transactions.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.
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