Possible Bearish Signals With Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Insiders Disposing Stock

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

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the CEO & Director, Peter Greenleaf, for US$711k worth of shares, at about US$5.60 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$8.24). 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. We note that the biggest single sale was only 29% of Peter Greenleaf's holding.

Insiders in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals didn't buy any shares in the last year. 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!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 1.5% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares, worth about US$18m. 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 Do The Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Indicate?

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. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Of course, the future is what matters most. So if you are interested in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, you should check out this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

But note: Aurinia Pharmaceuticals may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.