Insiders who bought US$475.8k worth of Verve Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VERV) stock at an average buy price of US$6.26 over the last year may be disappointed by the recent 25% decrease in the stock. Insiders purchase with the hope of seeing their investments increase in value over time. However, due to recent losses, their initial investment is now only worth US$411.2k, which is not great.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

View our latest analysis for Verve Therapeutics

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Verve Therapeutics

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by President Andrew Ashe for US$476k worth of shares, at about US$6.26 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$5.41 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Andrew Ashe.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Does Verve Therapeutics Boast High 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Verve Therapeutics insiders own about US$26m worth of shares. That equates to 5.3% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Verve Therapeutics Insiders?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Verve Therapeutics shares in the last quarter. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders do have a stake in Verve Therapeutics and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Verve Therapeutics. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Verve Therapeutics (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant).

Of course Verve Therapeutics 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.