Investors who take an interest in Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYRS) should definitely note that the Chief Financial Officer, Jason Haas, recently paid US$1.61 per share to buy US$161k worth of the stock. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 407%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

View our latest analysis for Syros Pharmaceuticals

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Syros Pharmaceuticals

In fact, the recent purchase by Jason Haas was the biggest purchase of Syros Pharmaceuticals shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$1.95), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Syros Pharmaceuticals 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. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Syros Pharmaceuticals 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

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. From looking at our data, insiders own US$633k worth of Syros Pharmaceuticals stock, about 1.5% of the company. I generally like to see higher levels of ownership.

So What Do The Syros Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. 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 Syros Pharmaceuticals insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Syros Pharmaceuticals has 7 warning signs (3 shouldn't be ignored!) 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.

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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.