Looking at Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:ACRS ) insider transactions over the last year, we can see that insiders were net buyers. That is, there were more number of shares purchased by insiders than there were sold.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Aclaris Therapeutics

Aclaris Therapeutics Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Director Anand Mehra made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.5m worth of shares at a price of US$2.25 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$1.96 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. As a general rule, we feel more positive about a stock when an insider has bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price. Anand Mehra was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

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!

Aclaris Therapeutics is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find small cap companies at attractive valuations, this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

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. 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 2.6% of Aclaris Therapeutics shares, worth about US$5.6m, according to our data. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Aclaris Therapeutics Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Aclaris Therapeutics insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. While we have no worries about the insider transactions, we'd be more comfortable if they owned more Aclaris Therapeutics stock. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Aclaris Therapeutics. Be aware that Aclaris Therapeutics is showing 3 warning signs in our investment analysis, and 2 of those are potentially serious...

Of course Aclaris Therapeutics 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.