While it's been a great week for Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL) shareholders after stock gained 38%, they should consider it with a grain of salt. Even though stock prices were relatively low, insiders elected to sell US$860k worth of stock in the last year, which could indicate some expected downturn.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Replimune Group Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Executive Chairman, Philip Astley-Sparke, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$245k worth of shares at a price of US$6.47 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$14.93, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. 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. 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. It is worth noting that this sale was only 2.8% of Philip Astley-Sparke's holding.

Insiders in Replimune Group didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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

Replimune Group Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Replimune Group. Specifically, insiders ditched US$134k 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

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that Replimune Group insiders own 6.0% of the company, worth about US$61m. 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 Replimune Group Tell Us?

Insiders sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And even if we look at the last year, we didn't see any purchases. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Replimune Group (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

But note: Replimune Group 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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