Trade Alert: Independent Director Of Halozyme Therapeutics Matthew Posard Has Sold Stock

Some Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Director, Matthew Posard, recently sold a substantial US$1.7m worth of stock at a price of US$56.53 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 38% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

View our latest analysis for Halozyme Therapeutics

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Halozyme Therapeutics

In fact, the recent sale by Matthew Posard was the biggest sale of Halozyme Therapeutics shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$59.10). When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 38% of Matthew Posard's holding.

Matthew Posard ditched 49.88k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$54.04. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, 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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Halozyme Therapeutics insiders own about US$75m worth of shares. That equates to 1.0% 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 Does This Data Suggest About Halozyme Therapeutics Insiders?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. On the plus side, Halozyme Therapeutics makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Halozyme Therapeutics and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.