The recent price decline of 11% in Medi Lifestyle Limited's (Catalist:5TN) stock may have disappointed insiders who bought RM500k worth of shares at an average price of RM0.011 in the past 12 months. This is not good as insiders invest based on expectations that their money will appreciate over time. However, as a result of recent losses, their original investment is now worth only RM354k.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Medi Lifestyle

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Medi Lifestyle

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Foo Weng Chan for S$500k worth of shares, at about S$0.011 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of S$0.008. 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. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Foo Weng Chan.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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

Does Medi Lifestyle Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Medi Lifestyle insiders own about S$1.9m worth of shares. That equates to 40% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Medi Lifestyle Tell Us?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Medi Lifestyle insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. 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 that end, you should learn about the 6 warning signs we've spotted with Medi Lifestyle (including 5 which can't be ignored).