Multiple insiders secured a larger position in Five Star Bancorp (NASDAQ:FSBC) shares over the last 12 months. This is reassuring as this suggests that insiders have increased optimism about the company's prospects.

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.

Five Star Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director Lawrence Allbaugh made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$3.0m worth of shares at a price of US$21.75 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$30.39. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 256.37k shares for US$5.6m. But insiders sold 24.67k shares worth US$685k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Five Star Bancorp insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Five Star Bancorp is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Insiders At Five Star Bancorp Have Sold Stock Recently

The last three months saw some Five Star Bancorp insider selling. Senior VP & Chief Regulatory Officer Michael Lee sold just US$46k worth of shares in that time. It's not great to see insider selling, nor the lack of recent buyers. But the selling simply isn't sufficiently substantial to be of much use as a signal.

Does Five Star Bancorp Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It's great to see that Five Star Bancorp insiders own 25% of the company, worth about US$159m. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Five Star Bancorp Tell Us?

While there has not been any insider buying in the last three months, there has been selling. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Five Star Bancorp insiders feel good about the company's future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Five Star Bancorp you should know about.

But note: Five Star Bancorp 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.