Bullish aTyr Pharma Insider Buying Worth US$514.6k Yet To Pay Off

Insiders who bought US$514.6k worth of aTyr Pharma, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:LIFE) stock at an average buy price of US$2.10 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 10% decrease in the stock. Insiders purchase with the hope of seeing their investments increase in value over time. However, due to recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$389.6k, which is not great.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for aTyr Pharma

aTyr Pharma Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director Paul Schimmel made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$450k worth of shares at a price of US$2.25 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$1.59 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months aTyr Pharma insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

aTyr Pharma 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

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From looking at our data, insiders own US$2.9m worth of aTyr Pharma stock, about 2.6% of the company. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Do The aTyr Pharma Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no aTyr Pharma insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think aTyr Pharma insiders are doubting the company. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in aTyr Pharma.

Of course aTyr Pharma 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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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.