The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price fall has become too big for investors to ignore.
The biotech giant is down another 1.46% to $97.81 on Thursday, taking its one-month decline to about 26%.
Over the past year, the damage is even more severe. CSL shares have fallen roughly 60% since this time last year.
That's a rare fall for a business long viewed as one of the ASX's highest-quality healthcare names.
Now, after months of bad news, investors have been given a small but interesting signal from inside the company.
Let's take a closer look.
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Naylor buys after the sell-off
According to the company's change of director's interest notice, interim Chief Executive Gordon Naylor bought 1,100 CSL shares on 26 May.
The shares were acquired on-market for $107,800.
It is Naylor's first on-market share purchase since taking the top job, and it comes after a heavy fall in the CSL share price.
On its own, the purchase isn't huge for a company of CSL's size. But after a string of disappointing updates, it's the kind of move investors are likely to notice.
CSL has just gone through one of the roughest periods in its recent history. The company has cut its outlook, and investors have kept selling after years of weaker share price performance.
While insider buying doesn't guarantee a turnaround, a senior executive buying shares after a major sell-off can still give investors a reason to look again.
Another director has been buying too
Naylor is not the only CSL director to recently buy shares.
A separate notice shows Non-Executive Director Alison Watkins acquired 2,540 shares on-market earlier this month for $250,595.
Again, the purchase does not change the issues CSL is dealing with. The company still needs to rebuild confidence after a steep share price fall and a difficult run of updates.
But a second director purchase does make the buying much harder to ignore.
What investors are watching next
CSL still has plenty to prove.
The company remains a global healthcare giant, with operations across plasma therapies, vaccines, iron deficiency, nephrology, and other speciality areas.
But the market has stopped giving the stock the benefit of the doubt.
The next few updates will need to show that earnings pressure is stabilising, cash generation remains sound, and the board has a clear leadership plan.
Naylor's share purchase may get investors looking again. But CSL still needs to prove the worst of the earnings pressure is behind it.
