Insiders at Caribou Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRBU) sold US$108k worth of stock at an average price of US$10.80 a share over the past year, making the most of their investment. After the stock price dropped 14% last week, the company's market value declined by US$63m, but insiders were able to mitigate their losses.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Caribou Biosciences

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Caribou Biosciences

The Vice President of Finance & Controller, Ryan Fischesser, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$108k worth of shares at a price of US$10.80 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$6.42. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Ryan Fischesser was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Does Caribou Biosciences Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Caribou Biosciences insiders own about US$21m worth of shares. That equates to 5.3% 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 Caribou Biosciences Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Caribou Biosciences shares in the last quarter. We don't take much encouragement from the transactions by Caribou Biosciences insiders. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Be aware that Caribou Biosciences is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 1 of those is a bit concerning...

Of course Caribou Biosciences 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, 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.