We'd be surprised if Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWB) shareholders haven't noticed that the Founder, Gerald Baack, recently sold US$394k worth of stock at US$13.06 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 2.5%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bridgewater Bancshares

In fact, the recent sale by Gerald Baack was the biggest sale of Bridgewater Bancshares shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$11.89. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$200k for 22.20k shares. But insiders sold 30.18k shares worth US$394k. 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!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insider Ownership Of Bridgewater Bancshares

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. Bridgewater Bancshares insiders own about US$67m worth of shares. That equates to 20% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Bridgewater Bancshares Tell Us?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insider ownership isn't particularly high, so this analysis makes us cautious about the company. So we'd only buy after careful consideration. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 2 warning signs (1 is a bit concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Bridgewater Bancshares.

But note: Bridgewater Bancshares 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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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.