A number of UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ:URGN) insiders sold their shares in the last year, which may have raised concerns among investors. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.
While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Medical Officer, Mark Schoenberg, sold US$177k worth of shares at a price of US$17.69 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$21.89). 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. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 6.3% of Mark Schoenberg's holding.
Insiders in UroGen Pharma didn't buy any shares in 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!
Check out our latest analysis for UroGen Pharma
I will like UroGen Pharma 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.
Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 2.1% of UroGen Pharma shares, worth about US$22m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded UroGen Pharma shares in the last quarter. Still, the insider transactions at UroGen Pharma in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing UroGen Pharma. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for UroGen Pharma you should know about.
If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.