Last week, IQE plc (LON:IQE) insiders, who had purchased shares in the previous 12 months were rewarded handsomely. The shares increased by 18% last week, resulting in a UK￡29m increase in the company's market worth, implying a 15% gain on their initial purchase. Put another way, the original UK￡234.4k acquisition is now worth UK￡269.6k.

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.

See our latest analysis for IQE

IQE Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Director Americo Lemos made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK￡234k worth of shares at a price of UK￡0.17 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of UK￡0.20. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

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. IQE insiders own about UK￡9.2m worth of shares. That equates to 4.8% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About IQE Insiders?

The fact that there have been no IQE insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think IQE insiders are doubting the company. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for IQE you should be aware of.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting 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.