Have Insiders Been Selling Ascension Capital Limited (NZSE:ACE) Shares This Year?

It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that there are more than a few examples of insiders dumping stock prior to a period of weak performance. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Ascension Capital Limited (NZSE:ACE).

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

Check out our latest analysis for Ascension Capital

Ascension Capital Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Stuart Macintosh, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for NZ$200k worth of shares at a price of NZ$0.0022 each. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of NZ$0.002. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive). Stuart Macintosh was the only individual insider to sell over the last year. Notably Stuart Macintosh was also the biggest buyer, having purchased NZ$9.3k worth of shares.

Stuart Macintosh ditched 139.00m shares over the year. The average price per share was NZ$0.0023. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Ascension Capital better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Ascension Capital Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Ascension Capital insiders own about NZ$1.2m worth of shares. That equates to 31% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Ascension Capital Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Ascension Capital insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Ascension Capital in the last 12 months are not very heartening. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Ascension Capital is showing 6 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 5 of those are a bit concerning...

Of course Ascension Capital 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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