Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRVS) Co-Founder, Richard Miller, recently bought US$100k worth of stock, for US$2.80 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, increasing their shareholding by only 2.8%, it can be interpreted as a good sign.

See our latest analysis for Corvus Pharmaceuticals

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Corvus Pharmaceuticals

In fact, the recent purchase by Co-Founder Richard Miller was not their only acquisition of Corvus Pharmaceuticals shares this year. Earlier in the year, they paid US$3.50 per share in a US$350k purchase. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$2.91 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. 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. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Richard Miller.

Richard Miller bought 135.71k shares over the last 12 months at an average price of US$3.32. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

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. Our data suggests Corvus Pharmaceuticals insiders own 4.2% of the company, worth about US$4.7m. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Corvus Pharmaceuticals Tell Us?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Corvus Pharmaceuticals insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. 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. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Corvus Pharmaceuticals you should be aware of, and 1 of these can't be ignored.

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, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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