This Intra-Cellular Therapies Insider Reduced Their Stake By 18% \

Insiders were net sellers of Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ITCI ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders sold more stock than they bought.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Intra-Cellular Therapies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Intra-Cellular Therapies

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, Joel Marcus, sold US$592k worth of shares at a price of US$59.22 per share. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$60.20, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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 18% of Joel Marcus's holding. The only individual insider seller over the last year was Joel Marcus.

Joel Marcus divested 25.00k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$54.77. 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: insiders have been buying them).

Does Intra-Cellular Therapies Boast High 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Intra-Cellular Therapies insiders own 2.4% of the company, currently worth about US$137m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Intra-Cellular Therapies Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Intra-Cellular Therapies shares in the last quarter. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Intra-Cellular Therapies insiders selling. If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.