Insiders Relieved After Selling Personalis With 13% Price Dip

By selling US$234k worth of Personalis, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSNL) stock at an average sell price of US$4.80 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company’s market cap plunged by US$75m after price dropped by 13% last week but insiders were able to limit their loss to an extent.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Personalis

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, Christopher Hall, for US$142k worth of shares, at about US$5.38 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$5.58, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 13% of Christopher Hall's stake.

Personalis insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

View our latest analysis for Personalis

I will like Personalis better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Personalis Insiders Are Selling The Stock

We have seen a bit of insider selling at Personalis, over the last three months. Insiders sold just US$19k worth of shares in that time. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Insider Ownership Of Personalis

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our data indicates that Personalis insiders own about US$7.1m worth of shares (which is 1.3% of the company). Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Personalis Tell Us?

While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. Recent insider selling makes us a little nervous, in light of the broader picture of Personalis insider transactions. And usually insiders own more stock in the company, according to our data. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for Personalis you should be aware of, and 1 of these is a bit unpleasant.

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.