Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc.'s (NASDAQ:MFH) stock rose 71% last week, but insiders who sold US$9.5m worth of stock over the last year are probably in a more advantageous position. Selling at an average price of US$0.83, which is higher than the current price might have been the right call as holding on to stock would have meant their investment would be worth less now than it was at the time of sale.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Mercurity Fintech Holding

Mercurity Fintech Holding Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, Hanqi Li, for US$9.5m worth of shares, at about US$0.90 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$1.57, 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. This single sale was 61% of Hanqi Li's stake. Hanqi Li was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$7.6m for 9.21m shares. But they sold 11.49m shares for US$9.5m. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does Mercurity Fintech Holding Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 33% of Mercurity Fintech Holding shares, worth about US$23m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Mercurity Fintech Holding Insiders?

The fact that there have been no Mercurity Fintech Holding insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Mercurity Fintech Holding in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. 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. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Mercurity Fintech Holding.

Of course Mercurity Fintech Holding 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.