Insiders who bought Design Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSGN) stock lovers over the past 12 months are probably not as affected by last week’s 11% loss. The reason for this is that the original purchase value of $181,600 is now worth $259,800 to insiders despite the recent loss.

While we don’t believe shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates that you should pay attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Design Therapeutics

The last 12 months of insider transactions at Design Therapeutics

Over the last year, we found that the largest insider purchase was by independent director John Schmid. He bought $100,000 worth of shares, or about $3.74 per share. While we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was well below the current price of $4.24. Since it was made at a lower price, it doesn’t tell us much about whether insiders might find today’s price attractive.

While Design Therapeutics insiders bought shares over the last year, they did not sell them. They paid about $2.96 on average. It’s certainly positive to see insiders investing their own money in the company. However, you should keep in mind that they were buying when the share price was significantly lower than where it is today. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the chart below, you can see the exact details of each insider transaction!

Design Therapeutics is not the only stock that insiders are buying, so take a look at these free List of companies with insider purchases that remain under the radar.

Insider ownership of Design Therapeutics

Looking at the total insider ownership in a company can help you assess whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. High insider ownership levels often mean that company management is more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that insiders at Design Therapeutics own 16% of the company, worth about $37 million. We’ve certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these levels are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What could insider transactions at Design Therapeutics tell us?

The fact that no insiders traded Design Therapeutics shares in the last quarter doesn’t mean much. But insiders have shown more interest in the stock over the last year. Insiders own a stake in Design Therapeutics and their transactions don’t worry us. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it’s also worth knowing the risks this company faces. To help with that, we’ve found out 4 warning signs (2 are potentially serious!) that you should know before buying shares of Design Therapeutics.

Naturally Design Therapeutics may not be the best stock to buy. You may want to see this free Collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulator. Currently, we only consider open market transactions and private disposals of direct holdings, but not derivative transactions or indirect holdings.

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This Simply Wall St article is of a general nature. We comment solely on the basis of historical data and analyst forecasts, using an unbiased methodology. Our articles do not constitute financial advice. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take into account your objectives or financial situation. Our goal is to provide you with long-term analysis based on fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not take into account the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative materials. Simply Wall St does not hold any of the stocks mentioned.