Exagen Insider Stock Sales Prove Timely As Market Valuation Descends To US$47m

By selling US$97k worth of Exagen Inc. (NASDAQ:XGN) stock at an average sell price of US$1.81 over the last year, insiders seemed to have made the most of their holdings. The company's market worth decreased by US$6.1m over the past week after the stock price dropped 12%, although insiders were able to minimize their losses

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Exagen

Exagen Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by CEO, President & Director John Aballi for US$78k worth of shares, at about US$1.92 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$2.65. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In total, Exagen insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, 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: Most of them are flying under the radar).

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 13% of Exagen shares, worth about US$6.1m, according to our data. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

So What Do The Exagen Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Exagen shares in the last quarter. Our analysis of Exagen insider transactions leaves us unenthusiastic. 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 4 warning signs for Exagen you should be aware of.

But note: Exagen 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 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.