Some Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LON:ONT) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Co-Founder, Gurdial Sanghera, recently sold a substantial UK£2.8m worth of stock at a price of UK£1.42 per share. That sale reduced their total holding by 12% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we’ve seen.

See our latest analysis for Oxford Nanopore Technologies

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Oxford Nanopore Technologies

In fact, the recent sale by Gurdial Sanghera was the biggest sale of Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of UK£1.43, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can’t be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it’s only a weak sign. This single sale was just 12% of Gurdial Sanghera’s stake.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 382.58k shares for UK£488k. But they sold 2.04m shares for UK£2.9m. Gurdial Sanghera sold a total of 2.04m shares over the year at an average price of UK£1.41. 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!

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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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 1.4% of Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares, worth about UK£19m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Oxford Nanopore Technologies Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven’t been buying. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn’t give us much comfort. Insider ownership isn’t particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We’d practice some caution before buying! While it’s good to be aware of what’s going on with the insider’s ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. In terms of investment risks, we’ve identified 4 warning signs with Oxford Nanopore Technologies and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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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.