Insider trading activity tapers off in last week of May
In the week ended May 27, we recorded open-market insider activity at 516 companies having a total value of $1.3 billion. This is 72.3% lower than last week, and 97.5% higher when compared to activity a year ago. Purchases accounted for 20% 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, down from a previous reading of 4.98. While we would generally regard this as a neutral signal for the market's performance in the coming weeks, the 4-week moving average remains firmly in bearish territory. Generally, a sell-to-buy ratio below 4 is considered bullish, while readings above 7 are bearish.
For the 7th consecutive week, activity was the most concentrated in the Technology sector, where 208 insiders filed trades having an aggregate market value of $221.6 million. Rounding out the top three sectors were Financials (200 trades for $584.3 million) and Consumer Discretionary (179 trades for $256.8 million).
The largest open-market transaction of the week was in BLK stock, where Barclays Bank Plc, a large shareholder in the firm, sold 2,356,750 shares for a total of $449.6 million. The biggest buy last week was for 2,000,000 shares of EQY, worth $38.7 million.
Largest insider buys of the week
Largest insider sales of the week
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