To look at Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVIR) insider trading over the past year, we can see that insiders were net buyers. That is, there were more shares bought by insiders than shares sold.
While we would never suggest that investors base their decisions solely on what a company’s directors have done, we would consider it foolish to completely ignore insider trading.
Atea Pharmaceuticals insider trading over the past year
Independent director Polly Murphy made the biggest insider buy in the past 12 months. This single transaction was for US$103,000 of shares at a price of US$8.57 each. Clearly, an insider wanted to buy, even at a price above the current stock price (ie US$8.20). Their perspective may have changed since then, but it at least shows that they were feeling optimistic at the time. In our view, the price an insider pays for a stock is very important. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current stock price, as it suggests that they have perceived value even at higher levels. Polly Murphy was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.
The chart below shows insider trading (by companies and individuals) over the past year. If you want to know exactly who sold, how much and when, just click on the chart below!
Atea Pharmaceuticals isn’t the only stock insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider buying, might be just the ticket.
Insider ownership
Another way to test alignment between a company’s executives and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. High insider participation often makes company management more concerned with the interests of shareholders. It appears Atea Pharmaceuticals insiders own 11% of the company, worth around $72 million. While this is a high but not exceptional level of insider ownership, it suffices to indicate some alignment between management and small shareholders.
What could insider trading at Atea Pharmaceuticals tell us?
The fact that there have been no Atea Pharmaceuticals insider trading recently certainly doesn’t bother us. On a more positive note, last year’s transactions are encouraging. Insiders hold shares in Atea Pharmaceuticals and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Atea Pharmaceuticals.
But note: Atea Pharmaceuticals may not be the best stock to buy. So take a look at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.
For the purposes of this article, insiders are persons who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently record open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.
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