Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Galilee Energy Limited (ASX:GLL) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Galilee Energy

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Galilee Energy

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when insider Stephen Copulos bought AU$1.0m worth of shares at a price of AU$0.30 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.29. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. 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 if insiders have bought shares at above current prices, because that suggests they viewed the stock as good value, even at a higher price.

While Galilee Energy insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. 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! insider-trading-volume

Galilee Energy is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this freelist of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our data indicates that Galilee Energy insiders own about AU$9.5m worth of shares (which is 9.5% of the company). However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!



What Might The Insider Transactions At Galilee Energy Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Galilee Energy shares in the last quarter. 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 Galilee Energy stock. 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 Galilee Energy has 4 warning signs (2 don't sit too well with us!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

Of course Galilee Energy may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this freecollection 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content?Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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.

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