We'd be surprised if Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) shareholders haven't noticed that the VP & Chief Accounting Officer, Robert Werner, recently sold US$282k worth of stock at US$56.88 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 9.1%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Twist Bioscience

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Paula Green, for US$2.1m worth of shares, at about US$52.40 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$54.39, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was 55% of Paula Green's holding.

Twist Bioscience insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. 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 Twist Bioscience

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 Twist Bioscience insiders own 2.4% of the company, worth about US$83m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The Twist Bioscience Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought Twist Bioscience stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. We'd practice some caution before buying! 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Twist Bioscience has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

But note: Twist Bioscience 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.