Kronos Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:KRON) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the President, Norbert Bischofberger, recently bought a whopping US$3.1m worth of stock, at a price of US$1.04. Aside from being a solid chunk in its own right, the deft move also saw their holding increase by some 36%.
Kronos Bio Insider Transactions Over The Last Year
In fact, the recent purchase by Norbert Bischofberger was the biggest purchase of Kronos Bio shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$1.08 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Norbert Bischofberger was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.
Norbert Bischofberger purchased 4.74m shares over the year. The average price per share was US$0.97. 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!
There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that Kronos Bio insiders own 26% of the company, worth about US$17m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.
What Might The Insider Transactions At Kronos Bio Tell Us?
The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Kronos Bio we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. 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. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 4 warning signs with Kronos Bio and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
Of course Kronos Bio 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.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com