Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Insiders Sell kr375m Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Over the past year, many Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) (STO:SOBI) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When analyzing insider transactions, it is usually more valuable to know whether insiders are buying versus knowing if they are selling, as the latter sends an ambiguous message. However, shareholders should take a deeper look if several insiders are selling stock over a specific time period.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Swedish Orphan Biovitrum

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Swedish Orphan Biovitrum

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the CEO & President, Guido Oelkers, for kr59m worth of shares, at about kr293 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of kr298. 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 38% of Guido Oelkers's holding. Notably Guido Oelkers was also the biggest buyer, having purchased kr47m worth of shares.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 303.96k shares worth kr47m. But they sold 1.28m shares for kr375m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum shares, than buying. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Insiders Are Selling The Stock

We've seen more insider selling than insider buying at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum recently. In total, insiders sold kr138m worth of shares in that time. Meanwhile insiders bought kr23m worth. Because the selling vastly outweighs the buying, we'd say this is a somewhat bearish sign.

Insider Ownership Of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.2% of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum shares, worth about kr222m. 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 Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Tell Us?

The stark truth for Swedish Orphan Biovitrum is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But since Swedish Orphan Biovitrum is profitable and growing, we're not too worried by this. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While it's good to be aware of 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Swedish Orphan Biovitrum and we suggest you have a look.

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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.