We'd be surprised if GRAIL, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRAL) shareholders haven't noticed that the CEO & Director, Robert Ragusa, recently sold US$238k worth of stock at US$31.21 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 6.3%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

View our latest analysis for GRAIL

GRAIL Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent sale by CEO & Director Robert Ragusa was not their only sale of GRAIL shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$1.7m worth of shares at a price of US$14.02 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$29.74). 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. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was 51% of Robert Ragusa's holding.

GRAIL insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. 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!

I will like GRAIL better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of GRAIL

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. From our data, it seems that GRAIL insiders own 0.7% of the company, worth about US$7.3m. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

So What Do The GRAIL Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders haven't bought GRAIL stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. When you combine this with the relatively low insider ownership, we are very cautious about the stock. So we'd only buy after very careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing GRAIL. At Simply Wall St, we've found that GRAIL has 2 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.