Insiders were net buyers of MaxLinear, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MXL ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders bought more stock than they sold.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for MaxLinear

MaxLinear Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Co-Founder Kishore Seendripu made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.4m worth of shares at a price of US$12.94 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$11.70 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Kishore Seendripu was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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.

Insiders At MaxLinear Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw significant insider selling at MaxLinear. In total, CFO & Chief Corporate Strategy Officer Steven Litchfield sold US$651k 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 MaxLinear

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 7.0% of MaxLinear shares, worth about US$75m. 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 MaxLinear Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought MaxLinear stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. On the other hand, the insider transactions over the last year are encouraging. And insiders do own shares. So the recent selling doesn't worry us too much. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 2 warning signs with MaxLinear and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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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