HeartBeam, Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAT) insiders who bought shares over the past year were rewarded handsomely last week. The stock rose 37%, resulting in a US$16m rise in the company's market capitalisation, translating to a gain of 49% on their initial investment. As a result, their original purchase of US$2.89m worth of stock is now worth US$4.31m.

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.

View our latest analysis for HeartBeam

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At HeartBeam

The insider Andrew Schwartzberg made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.8m worth of shares at a price of US$1.50 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$2.27. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Andrew Schwartzberg bought a total of 1.90m shares over the year at an average price of US$1.52. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

HeartBeam Insiders Are Selling The Stock

Over the last three months, we've seen a bit of insider selling at HeartBeam. Independent Director George De Urioste only netted US$11k selling shares, in that period. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Insider Ownership

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. HeartBeam insiders own about US$11m worth of shares. That equates to 18% 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.

So What Does This Data Suggest About HeartBeam Insiders?

Our data shows a little more insider selling, but no insider buying, in the last three months. But the sales were small, so we're not concerned. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think HeartBeam insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. For example, HeartBeam has 5 warning signs (and 3 which are a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.