VP & Chief Accounting Officer Of Cytokinetics Sold 64% Of Their Shares

We wouldn't blame Cytokinetics, Incorporated (NASDAQ:CYTK) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Robert Wong, the VP & Chief Accounting Officer recently netted about US$636k selling shares at an average price of US$48.88. Probably the most concerning element of the whole transaction is that the disposal amounted to 64% of their entire holding.

View our latest analysis for Cytokinetics

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Cytokinetics

In fact, the recent sale by Robert Wong was the biggest sale of Cytokinetics shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$52.28. 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. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was 64% of Robert Wong's holding.

Cytokinetics insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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 Cytokinetics better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Cytokinetics

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Cytokinetics insiders own about US$34m worth of shares. That equates to 0.6% of the company. 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 Cytokinetics Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold Cytokinetics shares recently, but they didn't buy any. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We'd practice some caution before buying! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For instance, we've identified 5 warning signs for Cytokinetics (1 is concerning) you should be aware of.

Of course Cytokinetics 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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