iRobot Corporation's (NASDAQ:IRBT) stock rose 23% last week, but insiders who sold US$2.8m worth of stock over the last year are probably in a more advantageous position. Selling at an average price of US$14.16, which is higher than the current price might have been the right call as holding on to stock would have meant their investment would be worth less now than it was at the time of sale.

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.

iRobot Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The insider, Colin Angle, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.1m worth of shares at a price of US$11.46 each. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place 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$10.41. So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.

All up, insiders sold more shares in iRobot than they bought, over the last year. 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 like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. From looking at our data, insiders own US$4.6m worth of iRobot stock, about 1.6% of the company. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

So What Do The iRobot Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded iRobot shares in the last quarter. The insider transactions at iRobot are not inspiring us to buy. And usually insiders own more stock in the company, according to our data. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for iRobot you should be aware of, and 1 of these doesn't sit too well with us.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.