Anyone interested in Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. (NASDAQ:COLL) should probably be aware that the Independent Director, Nancy Lurker, recently divested US$162k worth of shares in the company, at an average price of US$35.97 each. That sale was 20% of their holding, so it does make us raise an eyebrow.

Collegium Pharmaceutical Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Executive VP & Chief Medical Officer, Thomas Smith, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$672k worth of shares at a price of US$38.42 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$33.78. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

Insiders in Collegium Pharmaceutical didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Collegium Pharmaceutical

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. It appears that Collegium Pharmaceutical insiders own 1.1% of the company, worth about US$12m. 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 Collegium Pharmaceutical Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. But it is good to see that Collegium Pharmaceutical is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company.

Of course Collegium Pharmaceutical may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.

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.