We'd be surprised if Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) shareholders haven't noticed that the Senior VP & Chief Accounting Officer, Ajit Ramalingam, recently sold US$278k worth of stock at US$537 per share. In particular, we note that the sale equated to a 84% reduction in their position size, which doesn't exactly instill confidence.
The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bio-Rad Laboratories
The insider, Annette Tumolo, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$476k worth of shares at a price of US$793 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$549). So it is hard to draw any strong conclusion from it.
Insiders in Bio-Rad Laboratories didn't buy any shares in the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!
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Insider Ownership Of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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. Bio-Rad Laboratories insiders own 15% of the company, currently worth about US$2.4b based on the recent share price. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.
So What Do The Bio-Rad Laboratories Insider Transactions Indicate?
An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. And there weren't any purchases to give us comfort, over the last year. The company boasts high insider ownership, but we're a little hesitant, given the history of share sales. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Bio-Rad Laboratories. For example - Bio-Rad Laboratories has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
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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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