Despite the fact that Vertical Aerospace Ltd.'s (NYSE:EVTL) value has dropped 10% in the last week insiders who sold UK£54m worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Insiders might have been better off holding onto their shares, given that the average selling price of UK£5.97 is still below the current share price.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Vertical Aerospace Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Founder, Stephen Fitzpatrick, for US$36m worth of shares, at about US$6.88 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$1.24. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Stephen Fitzpatrick was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months. Notably Stephen Fitzpatrick was also the biggest buyer, having purchased US$17m worth of shares.

Stephen Fitzpatrick divested 9.10m shares over the last 12 months at an average price of UK£5.97. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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).

Does Vertical Aerospace Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 3.1% of Vertical Aerospace shares, worth about US$5.2m, according to our data. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Vertical Aerospace Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Vertical Aerospace insiders. We also note that, as far as we can see, insider ownership is fairly low, compared to other companies. 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.

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.