Insiders who purchased US$442.6k worth of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:TNXP) shares over the past year recouped some of their losses after price gained 20% last week. However, the purchase is proving to be a costly gamble, since losses made by insiders have totalled US$57k since the time of purchase.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding

The Co-Founder Seth Lederman made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$223k worth of shares at a price of US$14.89 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$12.03. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Insiders At Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. In total, insiders bought US$132k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about US$460k worth of Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.

So What Do The Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.