Some of the losses seen by insiders who purchased AU$1.21m worth of Orion Minerals Limited (ASX:ORN) shares over the past year were recovered after the stock increased by 14% over the past week. The purchase, however, has proven to be a pricey bet, with losses currently totalling AU$187k.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Orion Minerals

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Orion Minerals

The insider Philip Kotze made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for AU$1.2m worth of shares at a price of AU$0.019 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than AU$0.016 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

Over the last year, we can see that insiders have bought 64.00m shares worth AU$1.2m. But they sold 63.00m shares for AU$1.2m. Overall, Orion Minerals insiders were net buyers during the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

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.

Does Orion Minerals Boast High 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. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 18% of Orion Minerals shares, worth about AU$19m. 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 Orion Minerals Insider Transactions Indicate?

The fact that there have been no Orion Minerals insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Orion Minerals and their transactions don't cause us concern. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Orion Minerals. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Orion Minerals (of which 2 make us uncomfortable!) you should know about.