Despite a 46% gain in electroCore, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ECOR) stock price this week, shareholders shouldn't let up. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell US$746k worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.

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 electroCore

The insider, Daniel Goldberger, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$544k worth of shares at a price of US$6.80 each. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$9.12). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. It is worth noting that this sale was only 32% of Daniel Goldberger's holding.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 10.99k shares worth US$65k. But insiders sold 110.41k shares worth US$746k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of electroCore shares, than buying. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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

Insiders At electroCore Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw some electroCore insider selling. The selling netted US$80k for CFO & Interim President Joshua Lev. But US$60k was spent on buying, too, . While it's not great to see insider selling, the net amount sold isn't enough for us to want to read anything into it.

Does electroCore Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 29% of electroCore shares, worth about US$23m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The electroCore Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insider purchases may have been minimal, in the last three months, but there was no selling at all. That said, the purchases were not large. Recent insider selling makes us a little nervous, in light of the broader picture of electroCore insider transactions. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example, electroCore has 4 warning signs (and 2 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

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.