Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Darryl Demos, the Independent Director of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) recently shelled out US$75k to buy stock, at US$32.61 per share. That purchase might not be huge but it did increase their holding by 24%.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bankwell Financial Group

The Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer, Christine Chivily, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$150k worth of shares at a price of US$23.60 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$30.53, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. We note that the biggest single sale was only 18% of Christine Chivily's holding.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 16.62k shares for US$468k. But insiders sold 15.79k shares worth US$402k. In total, Bankwell Financial Group insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. The average buy price was around US$28.18. These transactions show that insiders have confidence to invest their own money in the stock, albeit at slightly below the recent price. 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!

Bankwell Financial Group is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Bankwell Financial Group insiders own about US$34m worth of shares. That equates to 14% 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 Bankwell Financial Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Bankwell Financial Group 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 1 warning sign with Bankwell Financial Group and understanding this should be part of your investment process.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.