Insiders who bought LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LENZ) stock lover the last 12 months are probably not as affected by last week’s 12% loss. After taking the recent loss into consideration, the US$551.1k worth of stock they bought is now worth US$729.1k, indicating that their investment yielded a positive return.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

View our latest analysis for LENZ Therapeutics

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At LENZ Therapeutics

The Co-Founder & Director James McCollum made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$501k worth of shares at a price of US$15.99 each. We do like to see buying, but this purchase was made at well below the current price of US$21.12. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months LENZ Therapeutics insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

LENZ 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. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that LENZ Therapeutics insiders own 3.5% of the company, worth about US$20m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The LENZ Therapeutics Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Overall we don't see anything to make us think LENZ Therapeutics insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for LENZ Therapeutics (1 doesn't sit too well with us!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.