Multiple Insiders Sold Bitfarms Shares Presenting Weak Signs For Investors

Simply Wall St · 10/17 14:51

Bitfarms Ltd. (TSE:BITF) shareholders may have reason to be concerned, as several insiders sold their shares over the past year. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

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

See our latest analysis for Bitfarms

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bitfarms

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Financial Officer, Jeffrey Lucas, sold CA$224k worth of shares at a price of CA$4.48 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of CA$2.65. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid CA$159k for 54.89k shares. On the other hand they divested 114.85k shares, for CA$418k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Bitfarms shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

insider-trading-volume
TSX:BITF Insider Trading Volume October 17th 2024

I will like Bitfarms 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.

Have Bitfarms Insiders Traded Recently?

We saw some Bitfarms insider buying shares in the last three months. Independent Chairman Brian Howlett purchased CA$14k worth of shares in that period. It's good to see the insider buying, as well as the lack of recent sellers. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about CA$415k worth of Bitfarms shares. This level of insider ownership is notably low, and not very encouraging.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Bitfarms Insiders?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. That said, the purchases were not large. The insider transactions at Bitfarms are not inspiring us to buy. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. 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 Bitfarms (1 is potentially serious!) 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.