Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Conn Davis, the CEO, President & Director of Byrna Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:BYRN) recently shelled out US$77k to buy stock, at US$3.47 per share. Even though that isn't a massive buy, it did increase their holding by 24,543%, which is arguably a good sign.

Byrna Technologies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director, Herbert Hughes, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$145k worth of shares at a price of US$29.00 each. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$3.37. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Herbert Hughes was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$93k for 25.61k shares. But insiders sold 5.00k shares worth US$145k. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. 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 Byrna Technologies insiders own 19% of the company, worth about US$16m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Byrna Technologies Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. We don't take much heart from transactions by Byrna Technologies insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. In short they are likely aligned with shareholders. 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, 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.

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.