Insiders At Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Sold US$1.8m In Stock, Alluding To Potential Weakness

Over the past year, many Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) insiders sold a significant stake in the company which may have piqued investors' interest. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying versus if they selling is usually more beneficial, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, when multiple insiders sell stock over a specific duration, shareholders should take notice as that could possibly be a red flag.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Eun Huh Seoung, for US$978k worth of shares, at about US$10.10 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$7.68. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like Aurinia Pharmaceuticals 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 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 1.2% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares, worth about US$13m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals insiders. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

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.