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

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.

Check out our latest analysis for Cutera

Cutera Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by President Taylor Harris for US$297k worth of shares, at about US$9.91 per share. That means that even when the share price was higher than US$1.59 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. 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.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$346k for 35.00k shares. But they sold 63.60k shares for US$165k. In the last twelve months there was more buying than selling by Cutera insiders. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Cutera Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last quarter saw substantial insider selling of Cutera shares. Specifically, Executive VP & Chief Technology Officer Michael Karavitis ditched US$165k worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership Of Cutera

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by 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. Our information indicates that Cutera insiders own about US$163k worth of shares. It's always possible we are missing something but from our data, it looks like insider ownership is minimal.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Cutera Tell Us?

An insider sold Cutera shares recently, but they didn't buy any. In contrast, they appear keener if you look at the last twelve months. But we'd like it if insiders owned more stock, overall. So we can't be sure that insiders are optimistic. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To help with this, we've discovered 6 warning signs (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Cutera.