It is usually uneventful when a single insider buys stock. However, When quite a few insiders buy shares, as it happened in CONMED Corporation's (NYSE:CNMD) case, it's fantastic news for shareholders.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CONMED

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by President Patrick Beyer for US$205k worth of shares, at about US$68.30 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$48.59. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for 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.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 7.79k shares worth US$544k. On the other hand they divested 257.00 shares, for US$17k. Overall, CONMED insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

See our latest analysis for CONMED

CONMED is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

CONMED Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last three months saw some CONMED insider selling. Chief Information Officer Richard Glaze only netted US$17k selling shares, in that period. Neither the lack of buying nor the presence of selling is heartening. But the volume sold is so low that it really doesn't bother us.

Insider Ownership Of CONMED

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. It appears that CONMED insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$12m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CONMED Tell Us?

We did not see any insider buying in the last three months, but we did see selling. However, the sales are not big enough to concern us at all. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think CONMED insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing CONMED. At Simply Wall St, we've found that CONMED has 2 warning signs (1 is concerning!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course CONMED 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 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.