Insider Buying: The Epizyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM) Independent Chairman Just Bought 49% More Shares

Those following along with Epizyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:EPZM) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by David Mott, Independent Chairman of the company, who spent a stonking US$994k on stock at an average price of US$16.03. Not only is that a big swing, but it increased their holding size by 49%, which is definitely great to see.

Check out our latest analysis for Epizyme

Epizyme Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by David Mott was the biggest purchase of Epizyme shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of US$15.51. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. In our view, the price an insider pays for shares is very important. 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. David Mott was the only individual insider to buy shares in the last twelve months.

You can see the insider transactions (by 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!

Epizyme is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Does Epizyme Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. From our data, it seems that Epizyme insiders own 0.4% of the company, worth about US$6.9m. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

So What Do The Epizyme Insider Transactions Indicate?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Epizyme stock. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Epizyme has 3 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

Of course Epizyme may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish 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 regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. 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.

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