Insiders who bought US$582.6k worth of Absci Corporation's (NASDAQ:ABSI) stock at an average buy price of US$2.98 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 17% decrease in the stock. Insiders invest with the hopes of seeing their money grow in value over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$495.3k, which is not what they expected.

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.

Absci Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Director & Member of Scientific Advisory Board Menelas Nicolas Pangalos for US$255k worth of shares, at about US$2.66 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$2.53 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. 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. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 195.79k shares for US$583k. But they sold 44.26k shares for US$132k. Overall, Absci insiders were net buyers during the last year. The average buy price was around US$2.98. These transactions suggest that insiders have considered the current price attractive. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insiders At Absci Have Bought Stock Recently

There was some insider buying at Absci over the last quarter. Independent Director François van Houten bought US$149k worth in that time. However, they netted US$132k for sales. It is good to see that insiders have been buying, but they did not buy very many shares, in the scheme of things.

Insider Ownership Of Absci

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. It appears that Absci insiders own 6.2% of the company, worth about US$27m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Absci Tell Us?

We note that there's been a little more insider selling than buying, recently. But the difference is small, and thus, not concerning. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Absci insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision.

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.