This BioLife Solutions Insider Reduced Their Stake By 28%

Looking at BioLife Solutions, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BLFS ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net sellers. That is, there were more number of shares sold by insiders than there were purchased.

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 BioLife Solutions

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At BioLife Solutions

The Independent Lead Director, Amy DuRoss, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$190k worth of shares at a price of US$17.00 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$27.11. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 28% of Amy DuRoss's holding. Amy DuRoss was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.

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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. Insiders own 3.2% of BioLife Solutions shares, worth about US$40m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At BioLife Solutions Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded BioLife Solutions shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by BioLife Solutions insiders. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing BioLife Solutions. While conducting our analysis, we found that BioLife Solutions has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

Of course BioLife Solutions 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.