Investors may wish to note that an insider of Orange County Bancorp, Inc., Michael Coulter, recently netted US$52k from selling stock, receiving an average price of US$51.84. That might not be a huge sum but it was 88% of their personal holding, so we find it a little discouraging.

Orange County Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by insider Michael Coulter was not the only time they sold Orange County Bancorp shares this year. They previously made an even bigger sale of -US$90k worth of shares at a price of US$46.09 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$48.65, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 34%of Michael Coulter's holding.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$55k for 1.50k shares. On the other hand they divested 9.41k shares, for US$457k. In total, Orange County Bancorp insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. They sold for an average price of about US$48.54. It's not too encouraging to see that insiders have sold at below the current price. But we wouldn't put too much weight on the insider selling. 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!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does Orange County Bancorp Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Orange County Bancorp insiders own about US$43m worth of shares. That equates to 16% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Orange County Bancorp Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. On the plus side, Orange County Bancorp makes money, and is growing profits. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Orange County Bancorp. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Orange County Bancorp (1 can't be ignored) you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.