Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Snowflake Inc. (NYSE:SNOW) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

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 Snowflake

Snowflake Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Lead Independent Director Michael Speiser made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$10.0m worth of shares at a price of US$131 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$186. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$15m for 110.77k shares. But insiders sold 30.40k shares worth US$4.5m. In total, Snowflake insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Snowflake 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.

Insiders At Snowflake Have Sold Stock Recently

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Snowflake shares. In total, Chief Accounting Officer Emily Ho dumped US$597k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. Overall this makes us a bit cautious, but it's not the be all and end all.

Insider Ownership Of Snowflake

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. Snowflake insiders own about US$2.8b worth of shares (which is 4.4% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Snowflake Insiders?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. On the other hand, the insider transactions over the last year are encouraging. And insider ownership remains quite considerable. So we're happy to look past recent trading. 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. For example - Snowflake has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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.