Insider Buying: The Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Independent Director Just Bought 9.5% More Shares

Investors who take an interest in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) should definitely note that the Independent Director, H. Holder, recently paid US$15.47 per share to buy US$155k worth of the stock. Although the purchase only increased their holding by 9.5%, it is still a solid purchase in our view.

View our latest analysis for Oak Valley Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Oak Valley Bancorp

In fact, the recent purchase by H. Holder was the biggest purchase of Oak Valley Bancorp shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of US$15.55. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. Happily, the Oak Valley Bancorp insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 39.54k shares for US$579k. On the other hand they divested 1.50k shares, for US$23k. In total, Oak Valley Bancorp insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. 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!

Oak Valley Bancorp 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

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with 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. Oak Valley Bancorp insiders own about US$24m worth of shares. That equates to 19% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Oak Valley Bancorp Insiders?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest Oak Valley Bancorp insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for Oak Valley Bancorp that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course Oak Valley Bancorp 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.

When trading Oak Valley Bancorp or any other investment, use the platform considered by many to be the Professional's Gateway to the Worlds Market, Interactive Brokers. You get the lowest-cost* trading on stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account. Promoted

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.
^*Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.