Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased CN¥13.2m worth of iDreamSky Technology Holdings Limited (HKG:1119) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 21% over the past week. However, the purchase is proving to be an expensive wager as insiders are yet to get ahead of their losses which currently stand at CN¥4.4m since the time of purchase.

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.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At iDreamSky Technology Holdings

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Co-founder Xiangyu Chen bought HK$3.0m worth of shares at a price of HK$2.75 per share. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, even at a higher price than the current share price (being HK$1.87). Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

iDreamSky Technology Holdings insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that iDreamSky Technology Holdings insiders own 20% of the company, worth about HK$582m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Do The iDreamSky Technology Holdings Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. It would be great to see more insider buying, but overall it seems like iDreamSky Technology Holdings insiders are reasonably well aligned (owning significant chunk of the company's shares) and optimistic for the future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing iDreamSky Technology Holdings. For example - iDreamSky Technology Holdings has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But note: iDreamSky Technology Holdings 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.