Despite the fact that Invitae Corporation's (NYSE:NVTA) value has dropped 78% in the last week insiders who sold US$229k worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Insiders might have been better off holding onto their shares, given that the average selling price of US$1.22 is still below the current share price.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Invitae

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the President, Kenneth Knight, for US$54k worth of shares, at about US$1.20 per share. 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$0.089. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Insiders in Invitae didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about US$166k worth of Invitae shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Invitae Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. The insider transactions at Invitae are not inspiring us to buy. And we're not picking up on high enough insider ownership to give us any comfort. While we like knowing 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. When we did our research, we found 6 warning signs for Invitae (3 shouldn't be ignored!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

But note: Invitae 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.