Potential Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS) shareholders may wish to note that the Co-Founder, Terry Rosen, recently bought US$201k worth of stock, paying US$10.18 for each share. However, it only increased shareholding by a small percentage, and it wasn't a huge purchase by absolute value, either.

Check out our latest analysis for Arcus Biosciences

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Arcus Biosciences

The Chief Operating Officer, Jennifer Jarrett, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$241k worth of shares at a price of US$18.62 each. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$10.89. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it. Jennifer Jarrett was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$403k for 39.80k shares. But they sold 13.45k shares for US$241k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Arcus Biosciences insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Arcus Biosciences 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.

Does Arcus Biosciences Boast High 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. It appears that Arcus Biosciences insiders own 4.1% of the company, worth about US$47m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Arcus Biosciences Tell Us?

It is good to see recent purchasing. 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. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Arcus Biosciences we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Arcus Biosciences. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Arcus Biosciences you should be aware of.

But note: Arcus Biosciences may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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.