Kura Oncology, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:KURA) stock price has dropped 10% in the previous week, but insiders who sold US$240k in stock over the past year have had less luck. Insiders would probably have been better off holding on to their shares given that the average selling price of US$17.73 is still lower than the current share price.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Kura Oncology Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Chief Medical Officer, Stephen Dale, sold US$127k worth of shares at a price of US$17.80 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$8.94). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Kura Oncology insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

I will like Kura Oncology better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Have Kura Oncology Insiders Traded Recently?

We have seen a bit of insider selling at Kura Oncology, over the last three months. Chief Operating Officer Kathleen Ford divested only US$8.4k worth of shares in that time. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the volume sold is so low that it really doesn't bother us.

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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that Kura Oncology insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$5.8m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Kura Oncology Insider Transactions Indicate?

We did not see any insider buying in the last three months, but we did see selling. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. Recent sales exacerbate our caution arising from analysis of Kura Oncology insider transactions. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. For example, Kura Oncology has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is concerning) we think you should know about.

But note: Kura Oncology 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.