Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL) insiders who bought shares over the past year were rewarded handsomely last week. The stock rose 17%, resulting in a US$89m rise in the company's market capitalisation, translating to a gain of 39% on their initial investment. In other words, the original US$176.8k purchase is now worth US$246.3k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Abacus Life

Abacus Life Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Director Mary Schulte bought US$101k worth of shares at a price of US$7.73 per share. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$9.66. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Abacus Life insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The average buy price was around US$6.93. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. 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!

Abacus Life is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Abacus Life Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Abacus Life. Overall, two insiders shelled out US$76k for shares in the company -- and none sold. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Abacus Life insiders own 98% of the company, currently worth about US$623m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Abacus Life Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. Once you factor in the high insider ownership, it certainly seems like insiders are positive about Abacus Life. Nice! So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Abacus Life (including 3 which are concerning).

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.