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

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.

Check out our latest analysis for ALS

ALS Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Non-Executive Director Siddhartha Kadia for AU$117k worth of shares, at about AU$12.47 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$10.16. It's very possible they regret the purchase, but it's more likely they are bullish about the company. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing 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.

ALS insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. 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!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

ALS Insiders Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that ALS insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. We can see that Independent Non-Executive Director Leslie Desjardins paid AU$88k for shares in the company. No-one sold. This could be interpreted as suggesting a positive outlook.

Insider Ownership of ALS

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. ALS insiders own about AU$34m worth of shares. That equates to 0.7% 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 ALS Tell Us?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. When combined with notable insider ownership, these factors suggest ALS insiders are well aligned, and that they may think the share price is too low. 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 ALS you should be aware of.