Have Insiders Sold Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBIO) Shares Recently?

Anyone interested in Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:HBIO) should probably be aware that the President, James Green, recently divested US$209k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$5.98 each. On the bright side, that sale was only 5.1% of their holding, so we doubt it's very meaningful, on its own.

See our latest analysis for Harvard Bioscience

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Harvard Bioscience

Notably, that recent sale by James Green is the biggest insider sale of Harvard Bioscience shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was selling shares at below the current price (US$6.10). 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 5.1% of James Green's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 30.00k shares worth US$78k. But they sold 35.00k shares for US$209k. 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!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership

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. Harvard Bioscience insiders own about US$26m worth of shares. That equates to 11% of the company. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Harvard Bioscience Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought Harvard Bioscience stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Harvard Bioscience. While conducting our analysis, we found that Harvard Bioscience has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

But note: Harvard Bioscience 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, but not derivative transactions.

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