Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Pathfinder Bancorp

Investors may wish to note that an insider of Pathfinder Bancorp, Inc., Ronald Tascarella, recently netted US$85k from selling stock, receiving an average price of US$17.00. On the bright side, that's just a small sale and only reduced their holding by 5.6%.

Check out our latest analysis for Pathfinder Bancorp

Pathfinder Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Director, Eric Allyn, for US$137k worth of shares, at about US$16.80 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$17.10, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 17% of Eric Allyn's holding.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$100k for 8.39k shares. But they sold 22.59k shares for US$375k. In total, Pathfinder Bancorp insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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Insider Ownership Of Pathfinder Bancorp

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. It appears that Pathfinder Bancorp insiders own 20% of the company, worth about US$22m. 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 Pathfinder Bancorp Insiders?

Insiders haven't bought Pathfinder Bancorp stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We're in no rush to buy! 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 2 warning signs for Pathfinder Bancorp that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

Of course Pathfinder 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 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.