Potential CarParts.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTS) shareholders may wish to note that the Independent Director, Jimmy Barnes, recently bought US$103k worth of stock, paying US$1.10 for each share. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 75%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

Check out our latest analysis for CarParts.com

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At CarParts.com

In fact, the recent purchase by Jimmy Barnes was the biggest purchase of CarParts.com shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is US$1.21. 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. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices.

While CarParts.com insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

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.

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. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. From our data, it seems that CarParts.com insiders own 8.6% of the company, worth about US$5.5m. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

What Might The Insider Transactions At CarParts.com Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchases. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that CarParts.com insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we've found that CarParts.com has 3 warning signs (1 can't be ignored!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.