Heliogen Slides As Insider Purchases Lose Another US$93k

The recent 12% drop in Heliogen, Inc.'s (NYSE:HLGN) stock could come as a blow to insiders who purchased US$385k worth of stock at an average buy price of US$0.27 over the past 12 months. Insiders invest with the hopes of seeing their money grow in value over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$292k, which is not what they expected.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Heliogen

Heliogen Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider Patrick Soon-Shiong made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$306k worth of shares at a price of US$0.24 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$0.20. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$385k for 1.43m shares. On the other hand they divested 161.70k shares, for US$35k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Heliogen insiders. They paid about US$0.27 on average. I'd consider this a positive as it suggests insiders see value at around the current price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Heliogen is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Heliogen Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider selling at Heliogen. Insiders sold just US$10k worth of shares in that time. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Does Heliogen Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From our data, it seems that Heliogen insiders own 6.7% of the company, worth about US$2.8m. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Heliogen Tell Us?

Our data shows a little more insider selling, but no insider buying, in the last three months. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Heliogen insiders bought more shares in the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Heliogen. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Heliogen and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.