While it's been a great week for Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD) shareholders after stock gained 31%, they should consider it with a grain of salt. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell US$8.0m worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.

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.

See our latest analysis for Innodata

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Innodata

The Independent Chairman of the Board, Nauman Toor, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$2.9m worth of shares at a price of US$13.57 each. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$10.02). So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Innodata insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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 Innodata Boast High 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. Innodata insiders own about US$20m worth of shares. That equates to 6.8% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Innodata Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. Still, the insider transactions at Innodata in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But we do like the fact that insiders own a fair chunk of 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. At Simply Wall St, we've found that Innodata has 3 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

But note: Innodata may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE 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 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.