Insider trading activity still signals high risk of market correction
In the week ended May 20, we recorded open-market insider trading activity at 627 companies having a total value of $4.8 billion. This is 67.2% higher than last week, and 293% higher when compared to activity a year ago. Purchases accounted for 16.7% of all open-market trades last week. Our insider sell-to-buy ratio, which excludes derivative conversions and certain other types of transactions, ended the week at 4.98, down from a previous reading of 7.79. The 4-week moving average remained elevated and firmly in bearish territory, which reinforces our view that the downside risk in the market is high. Generally, a sell-to-buy ratio below 4 is considered bullish, while readings above 7 are bearish.
For the 6th consecutive week, activity was the most concentrated in the Technology sector, where 271 insiders filed trades having an aggregate market value of $1 billion. Rounding out the top three sectors were Financials (256 trades for $137.6 million) and Industrials (182 trades for $567.9 million).
The largest open-market transaction of the week was in SIRO stock, where 3 insiders sold 29,242,440 shares for a total of $1.5 billion. The biggest buy last week was for 19,826,400 shares of NYNY, worth $17.5 million.
Largest insider buys last week
Largest insider sales last week
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