We'd be surprised if Parke Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:PKBK) shareholders haven't noticed that the Independent Chairman of the Board, Daniel Dalton, recently sold US$105k worth of stock at US$20.96 per share. However, the silver lining is that the sale only reduced their total holding by 3.7%, so we're hesitant to read anything much into it, on its own.

Parke Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Independent Director, Jeffrey Kripitz, for US$194k worth of shares, at about US$19.60 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$20.74, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. We note that the biggest single sale was only 3.5% of Jeffrey Kripitz's holding.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$132k for 7.43k shares. But insiders sold 42.50k shares worth US$767k. All up, insiders sold more shares in Parke Bancorp 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!

I will like Parke Bancorp better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Does Parke Bancorp Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 11% of Parke Bancorp shares, worth about US$28m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Parke Bancorp Tell Us?

An insider hasn't bought Parke Bancorp stock in the last three months, but there was some selling. Zooming out, the longer term picture doesn't give us much comfort. While insiders do own shares, they don't own a heap, and they have been selling. We're in no rush to buy! 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. You'd be interested to know, that we found 1 warning sign for Parke Bancorp and we suggest you have a look.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
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.