Insiders who bought Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) stock in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The company's market value increased by US$91m as a result of the stock's 17% gain over the same period. Put another way, the original US$300.8k acquisition is now worth US$440.5k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Equity Bancshares

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Founder, Brad Elliott, sold US$214k worth of shares at a price of US$32.02 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to take some cash off the table, even below the current price of US$40.40. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. We note that the biggest single sale was only 2.3% of Brad Elliott's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 10.90k shares for US$301k. On the other hand they divested 8.95k shares, for US$284k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Equity Bancshares insiders. Their average price was about US$27.59. We don't deny that it is nice to see insiders buying stock in the company. But we must note that the investments were made at well below today's share price. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insiders At Equity Bancshares Have Bought Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Equity Bancshares. We can see that Independent Director Junetta Everett paid US$100k for shares in the company. No-one sold. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence.

Insider Ownership Of Equity Bancshares

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. It appears that Equity Bancshares insiders own 6.9% of the company, worth about US$40m. 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 Equity Bancshares Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Insiders likely see value in Equity Bancshares shares, given these transactions (along with notable insider ownership of the company). In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Equity Bancshares. While conducting our analysis, we found that Equity Bancshares has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore it.

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.

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