Some Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that insider George Cummings recently sold a substantial US$577k worth of stock at a price of US$28.86 per share. However, it's crucial to note that they remain very much invested in the stock and that sale only reduced their holding by 7.0%.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Business First Bancshares

In fact, the recent sale by George Cummings was the biggest sale of Business First Bancshares shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even slightly below the current price of US$29.24. 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. It is worth noting that this sale was only 7.0% of George Cummings's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 5.45k shares for US$136k. On the other hand they divested 120.30k shares, for US$3.4m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Business First Bancshares than they bought, over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 5.3% of Business First Bancshares shares, worth about US$50m. 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 Does This Data Suggest About Business First Bancshares Insiders?

An insider hasn't bought Business First Bancshares stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. But it is good to see that Business First Bancshares is growing earnings. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example - Business First Bancshares has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

Of course Business First Bancshares 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.