We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So shareholders might well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Air T, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRT).

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, such insiders must disclose their trading activities, and not trade on inside information.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

View our latest analysis for Air T

Air T Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Lead Independent Director Raymond Cabillot for US$89k worth of shares, at about US$19.67 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being US$10.00). It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 18.64k shares for US$290k. On the other hand they divested 4.50k shares, for US$74k. In total, Air T insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The average buy price was around US$15.53. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. 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!

Air T is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 13% of Air T shares, worth about US$3.6m, according to our data. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.