Despite the fact that Artesian Resources Corporation's (NASDAQ:ARTN.A) value has dropped 14% in the last week insiders who sold US$141k worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Given that the average selling price of US$44.03 is still lower than the current share price, insiders would probably have been better off keeping their shares.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Artesian Resources Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Senior Vice President of Operations, John Thaeder, for US$110k worth of shares, at about US$43.81 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. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$34.52. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels. The only individual insider seller over the last year was John Thaeder.

John Thaeder sold a total of 3.20k shares over the year at an average price of US$44.03. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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Does Artesian Resources 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. Artesian Resources insiders own about US$39m worth of shares. That equates to 10.0% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Artesian Resources Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. Our analysis of Artesian Resources insider transactions leaves us cautious. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of the company. 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Artesian Resources has 2 warning signs (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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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.