Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that James Barber, the Director of Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO) recently shelled out US$77k to buy stock, at US$1.54 per share. While that isn't the hugest buy, it actually boosted their shareholding by 71%, which is good to see.

Gevo Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Independent Director, Gary Mize, sold US$250k worth of shares at a price of US$2.34 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$1.65. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 62.50k shares for US$96k. On the other hand they divested 144.34k shares, for US$355k. In total, Gevo insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Gevo better if I see some big insider buys.

Does Gevo 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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 4.8% of Gevo shares, worth about US$20m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Gevo Tell Us?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. On the other hand the transaction history, over the last year, isn't so positive. While recent transactions indicate confidence in Gevo, insiders don't own enough of the company to overcome our cautiousness about the longer term transactions. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Gevo.

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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.