Insiders Could Have Profited By Holding onto Clene Shares Despite 15% Drop
Despite the fact that Clene Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CLNN) value has dropped 15% in the last week insiders who sold US$5.8m worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of US$5.95 is still lower than the current share price.
While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Clene
In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the insider, Chidozie Ugwumba, sold US$1.7m worth of shares at a price of US$7.86 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$3.28. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Chidozie Ugwumba was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.
Chidozie Ugwumba divested 971.82k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$5.95. 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!
See our latest analysis for Clene
If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of small cap stocks that are not only being bought by insiders but also have attractive valuations.
Does Clene Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From our data, it seems that Clene insiders own 8.7% of the company, worth about US$4.0m. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Clene Tell Us?
The fact that there have been no Clene insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Clene insiders. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Be aware that Clene is showing 5 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 3 of those are a bit concerning...
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.