Some Enterprise Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBTC) shareholders may be a little concerned to see that the Independent Director, Kenneth Ansin, recently sold a substantial US$3.0m worth of stock at a price of US$25.25 per share. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 10%, which is notable but not too bad.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Enterprise Bancorp

In fact, the recent sale by Kenneth Ansin was the biggest sale of Enterprise Bancorp shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$27.45, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 10% of Kenneth Ansin's stake.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 9.26k shares worth US$255k. But they sold 120.00k shares for US$3.0m. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Enterprise Bancorp shares, than buying. 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!

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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. It appears that Enterprise Bancorp insiders own 24% of the company, worth about US$80m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Enterprise Bancorp Tell Us?

Unfortunately, there has been more insider selling of Enterprise Bancorp stock, than buying, in the last three months. 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. We'd practice some caution before buying! 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. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Enterprise Bancorp.

Of course Enterprise Bancorp 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.

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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.