Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased HK$46m worth of Digital China Holdings Limited (HKG:861) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 8.3% over the past week. The purchase, however, has proven to be a pricey bet, with losses currently totalling HK$4.0m.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for Digital China Holdings

Digital China Holdings Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Chairman & CEO Wei Guo made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for HK$6.0m worth of shares at a price of HK$4.01 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of HK$3.65. 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. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Digital China Holdings insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. 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 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

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It's great to see that Digital China Holdings insiders own 22% of the company, worth about HK$1.3b. I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Digital China Holdings Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Digital China Holdings insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, Digital China Holdings insiders feel good about the company's 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. While conducting our analysis, we found that Digital China Holdings has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore these.

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, but not derivative transactions.

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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.