Insiders who bought Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation (NYSE:AP) stock lover the last 12 months are probably not as affected by last week’s 16% loss. Reason being, despite the recent loss, insiders original purchase value of US$879.9k is now worth US$2.66m.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Bruce Galloway bought US$611k worth of shares at a price of US$3.55 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$8.65. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 307.80k shares worth US$880k. But they sold 10.05k shares for US$99k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Ampco-Pittsburgh insiders. The average buy price was around US$2.86. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today's share price. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Ampco-Pittsburgh is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Ampco-Pittsburgh Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen notably more insider selling, than insider buying, at Ampco-Pittsburgh. In total, President of Union Electric Steel Corporation Samuel Lyon sold US$99k worth of shares in that time. On the other hand we note CEO & Director J. McBrayer bought US$30k worth of shares. Generally this level of net selling might be considered a bit bearish.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Ampco-Pittsburgh insiders own 15% of the company, worth about US$27m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Ampco-Pittsburgh Insider Transactions Indicate?

The insider sales have outweighed the insider buying, at Ampco-Pittsburgh, in the last three months. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. And insiders do own shares. So the recent selling doesn't worry us too much. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company.

But note: Ampco-Pittsburgh may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.

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.