President Of Pacific Biosciences of California Sold 29% Of Their Shares

We wouldn't blame Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Christian O. Henry, the President recently netted about US$980k selling shares at an average price of US$10.12. That sale reduced their total holding by 29% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

See our latest analysis for Pacific Biosciences of California

Pacific Biosciences of California Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by Christian O. Henry was the biggest sale of Pacific Biosciences of California shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So we know that an insider sold shares at around the present share price of US$9.43. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

Insiders in Pacific Biosciences of California didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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

Does Pacific Biosciences of California Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From our data, it seems that Pacific Biosciences of California insiders own 0.3% of the company, worth about US$6.3m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Pacific Biosciences of California Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought Pacific Biosciences of California stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insiders own relatively few shares in the company, and when you consider the sales, we're not particularly excited about the stock. We'd certainly practice some caution before buying! 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Pacific Biosciences of California and we suggest you have a look.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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 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.