Nautilus Biotechnology Insiders May Regret Not Buying More, Market Cap Hits US$236m

Insiders who bought Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAUT) stock in the last 12 months were richly rewarded last week. The company's market value increased by US$34m as a result of the stock's 14% gain over the same period. Put another way, the original US$199.7k acquisition is now worth US$613.7k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

Nautilus Biotechnology Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Co-Founder Sujal Patel made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$136k worth of shares at a price of US$0.68 each. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (US$2.22), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months Nautilus Biotechnology insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

View our latest analysis for Nautilus Biotechnology

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).

Are Nautilus Biotechnology Insiders Buying Or Selling?

There was some insider buying at Nautilus Biotechnology over the last quarter. insider Ken Suzuki purchased US$6.0k worth of shares in that period. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

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. Nautilus Biotechnology insiders own about US$77m worth of shares. That equates to 33% 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 Nautilus Biotechnology Insiders?

We note a that there has been a bit of insider buying recently (but no selling). The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in Nautilus Biotechnology and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Nautilus Biotechnology. To that end, you should learn about the 4 warning signs we've spotted with Nautilus Biotechnology (including 3 which are potentially serious).

Of course Nautilus Biotechnology may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.