Need To Know: Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Insiders Have Been Buying Shares

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR).

What Is Insider Selling?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year'.

Check out our latest analysis for Esperion Therapeutics

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Esperion Therapeutics

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by President Timothy Mayleben for US$245k worth of shares, at about US$49.00 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$29.30 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Timothy Mayleben was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

Timothy Mayleben bought a total of 7.50k shares over the year at an average price of US$47.00. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Esperion Therapeutics is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our data indicates that Esperion Therapeutics insiders own about US$5.7m worth of shares (which is 0.7% of the company). Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Esperion Therapeutics Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Esperion Therapeutics insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. The transactions are fine but it'd be more encouraging if Esperion Therapeutics insiders bought more shares in the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for Esperion Therapeutics (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

Of course Esperion Therapeutics 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, but not derivative transactions.

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