In the last year, many Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) insiders sold a substantial stake in the company which may have sparked shareholders' attention. When evaluating insider transactions, knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more beneficial than knowing whether they are selling, as the latter can be open to many interpretations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

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.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Axcelis Technologies

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Chairman, Jorge Titinger, for US$1.2m worth of shares, at about US$177 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$148). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 1.04k shares worth US$116k. On the other hand they divested 16.56k shares, for US$2.8m. All up, insiders sold more shares in Axcelis Technologies than they bought, over the last year. 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!

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Insiders At Axcelis Technologies Have Sold Stock Recently

Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider selling at Axcelis Technologies. In total, Independent Director John Kurtzweil sold US$137k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

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. 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 1.2% of Axcelis Technologies shares, worth about US$58m. 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 Axcelis Technologies Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider hasn't bought Axcelis Technologies stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. But it is good to see that Axcelis Technologies is growing earnings. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. 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. For example - Axcelis Technologies has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

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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.

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