Insider selling has accelerated into the rally. C-level execs at these companies sold big chunks of stock recently.

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The stock market’s rally since the March 23 low has been stunning. The S&P 500 is up nearly 30% from those levels as of yesterday’s close. So it’s not surprising that insider selling has accelerated into the rally.

Insiders were big net buyers during the panic selling last month. For the week ending March 13, the WhaleWisdom Insider Weekly Sell vs Buy ratio hit 0.23. As we wrote at the time, that’s a level of insider bullishness only surpassed in November of 2008. And the next two weeks were also very bullish, showing ratios of 0.43 and 0.63. Only last week did we see a definite uptick in insider selling. For the week ending April 10, the reading was 2.82.

The Insider Sell vs Buy ratio reflects the number of officers and directors buying stock on the open market vs those selling. When key insiders are broadly buying stock in their own companies, and selling very little, history shows that the stock market is approaching a bottom. The insiders definitely called the March bottom. Whether it’s THE bottom — or whether stocks revisit those lows in the weeks ahead — remains to be seen.

In any case, C-level insiders at the following companies have been taking advantage of the bounce in their shares to do some notable selling. To what degree the selling reflects bearishness on the part of the insiders is hard to decipher. Keep in mind that insider selling is generally less predictive than insider buying. Insiders sell stocks for many reasons — portfolio rebalancing, liquidity needs, and to cash-in employment-based stock options. But insiders only buy because they think their stock will eventually trade higher. Still, when a key insider sells a large % of their holdings, it does make you wonder…

Stocks showing significant selling by one or more C-level insiders over the last two weeks. Source: WhaleWisdom.com

Recent FilingCompanySymbolIndustry# InsidersLast Trade Total Shares Avg. Price Total 
09-Apr-2020Zoom Video CommunicationsZMServices-Computer208-Apr-2020          331,216 141.08 $   46,729,408
10-Apr-2020Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc.CRWDSoftware209-Apr-2020          574,498 59.74 $   34,320,112
10-Apr-2020Digital Realty Trust Inc.DLRREIT309-Apr-2020          108,024 144.49 $   15,608,350
09-Apr-2020Apple Inc.AAPLPersonal Computers107-Apr-2020            41,062 264.44 $   10,858,444
03-Apr-2020Datadog, Inc.DDOGSoftware301-Apr-2020          210,099 35.26 $     7,407,937
08-Apr-2020Cloudflare, Inc.NETSoftware208-Apr-2020          221,100 23.36 $     5,165,619
10-Apr-2020Acceleron Pharma IncXLRNBiotechnology109-Apr-2020            54,000 86.37 $     4,663,775
10-Apr-2020Grocery Outlet Holding Corp.GOGrocery Stores208-Apr-2020            82,698 36.79 $     3,042,108
03-Apr-2020Karuna TherapeuticsKRTXPharmaceutical201-Apr-2020            32,728 65.08 $     2,129,808
07-Apr-2020Masimo CorpMASIMedical Appliances & Equipment206-Apr-2020              9,000 184.67 $     1,662,000
03-Apr-202010x Genomics, Inc.TXGLab Instruments201-Apr-2020            27,000 58.07 $     1,567,884
10-Apr-2020Smartsheet IncSMARSoftware209-Apr-2020            25,000 44.65 $     1,116,137
10-Apr-2020Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.INSPMedical Instruments  109-Apr-2020            10,000 64 $        640,000
03-Apr-2020Veeva Systems IncVEEVApplication Software102-Apr-2020              3,071 156.7 $        481,231
09-Apr-2020Dicerna Pharmaceuticals DRNABiotechnology107-Apr-2020            20,469 19.95 $        408,357
08-Apr-2020Adaptive Biotechnologies ADPTBiologic Products108-Apr-2020            15,000 24.47 $        367,029
09-Apr-2020Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.HRCMedical Instruments & Supplies107-Apr-2020              3,189 110 $        350,790

You can follow insider buying at the SEC’s Edgar website or at sites like WhaleWisdom.com.

Contact Mark about investing based on SEC filings and smart money disclosures.

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