Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Craig MacKay, the Director of Carver Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CARV) recently shelled out US$100k to buy stock, at US$1.67 per share. While that isn't the hugest buy, it actually boosted their shareholding by 1,198%, which is good to see.

Check out our latest analysis for Carver Bancorp

Carver Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Craig MacKay is the biggest insider purchase of Carver Bancorp shares that we've seen in the last year. That implies that an insider found the current price of US$1.84 per share to be enticing. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. Happily, the Carver Bancorp insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

Carver Bancorp insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Carver Bancorp is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Our data indicates that Carver Bancorp insiders own about US$1.4m worth of shares (which is 15% of the company). Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Does This Data Suggest About Carver Bancorp Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Carver Bancorp insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Carver Bancorp you should be aware of, and 1 of them is potentially serious.

Of course Carver Bancorp may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.

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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.