Viewing insider transactions for Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ITCI ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net sellers. This means that a larger number of shares were sold by insiders in relation to shares purchased.    

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing,  logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Intra-Cellular Therapies

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the EVP & Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Neumann, sold US$860k worth of shares at a price of US$55.02 per share.    So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$66.32.  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.  However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal.   We note that the biggest single sale was only 34% of Mark Neumann's holding.      Mark Neumann was the only individual insider to sell shares in the last twelve months.  

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!

NasdaqGS:ITCI Insider Trading Volume May 14th 2024

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).

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.  Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term.   Intra-Cellular Therapies insiders own about US$147m worth of shares (which is 2.1% of the company).  This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.  

What Might The Insider Transactions At Intra-Cellular Therapies Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Intra-Cellular Therapies shares in the last quarter.      It's heartening that insiders own plenty of stock, but we'd like to see more insider buying, since the last year of Intra-Cellular Therapies insider transactions don't fill us with confidence.       In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Intra-Cellular Therapies.    You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Intra-Cellular Therapies and we suggest you have a look.  

But note: Intra-Cellular Therapies 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.