Marten Transport Slides As Insider Purchases Lose Another US$124k

The recent 10% drop in Marten Transport, Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:MRTN) stock could come as a blow to insiders who purchased US$415.7k worth of stock at an average buy price of US$13.86 over the past 12 months. 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$291.6k, which is not great.

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.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Marten Transport

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Jerry Bauer for US$258k worth of shares, at about US$12.88 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being US$9.72). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Jerry Bauer was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

Jerry Bauer purchased 30.00k shares over the year. The average price per share was US$13.86. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

View our latest analysis for Marten Transport

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Marten Transport

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Marten Transport insiders own 29% of the company, currently worth about US$256m based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Marten Transport Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Marten Transport shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Marten Transport insiders feel good about the company's future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Marten Transport (1 shouldn't be ignored!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

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.