Trade Alert: The President Of Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN), Donald Young, Has Just Spent US$73k Buying A Few More Shares

Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE:ASPN) President, Donald Young, recently bought US$73k worth of stock, for US$14.63 per share. Nevertheless, it only increased their shareholding by a minuscule percentage, and it wasn't a massive purchase by absolute value, either.

View our latest analysis for Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director Robert Gervis made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$4.5m worth of shares at a price of US$33.12 each. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$16.64. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$4.6m for 140.87k shares. On the other hand they divested 5.47k shares, for US$202k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Aspen Aerogels insiders. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Aspen Aerogels is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Does Aspen Aerogels Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company 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. It appears that Aspen Aerogels insiders own 4.9% of the company, worth about US$30m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Aspen Aerogels Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Aspen Aerogels we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. 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 3 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Aspen Aerogels.

Of course Aspen Aerogels 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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