3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) insiders who sold earlier this year missed out on a 5.8% increase in the stock last week

While it’s been a great week for 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) shareholders after stock gained 5.8%, not so much for insiders who sold stock over the past year. The value of their investment would have been higher had they waited to sell their stock.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for 3D Systems

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At 3D Systems

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Co-Founder, Charles Hull, for US$289k worth of shares, at about US$10.95 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$10.72. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. We note that this sale took place at around the current price, so it isn't a major concern, though it's hardly a good sign.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$405k for 40.14k shares. But they sold 40.94k shares for US$430k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of 3D Systems shares, than buying. 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!

I will like 3D Systems 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 3D Systems Boast High 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. 3D Systems insiders own about US$36m worth of shares. That equates to 2.5% 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 Do The 3D Systems Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded 3D Systems shares in the last quarter. Still, the insider transactions at 3D Systems in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for 3D Systems and we suggest you have a look.

Of course 3D Systems 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. 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.