Despite the fact that Applied Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:APLT) value has dropped 84% in the last week insiders who sold US$8.1m worth of stock in the past 12 months have had less success. Insiders might have been better off holding onto their shares, given that the average selling price of US$5.69 is still below the current share price.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Applied Therapeutics

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the Chair of the Board of Directors, Shoshana Shendelman, for US$4.7m worth of shares, at about US$6.18 per share. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$1.38. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Applied Therapeutics insiders didn't buy any shares 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!

I will like Applied Therapeutics better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued and small cap stocks with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 5.5% of Applied Therapeutics shares, worth about US$11m. 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 Applied Therapeutics Insider Transactions Indicate?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Applied Therapeutics shares in the last quarter. Still, the insider transactions at Applied Therapeutics in the last 12 months are not very heartening. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. While it's good to be aware of 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 5 warning signs for Applied Therapeutics you should be aware of, and 4 of them are potentially serious.

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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