People who run U.S. companies sold $77.6 billion worth of their own companies' stock in the first half of 2026, a 20% jump from the year before, according to data from EPFR Global Market cited by Yahoo Finance on July 17 (Yahoo Finance). A widely watched number from Gurufocus, called the Insider Buy/Sell ratio, now sits at 0.25 as of July 2026, down from 0.27 the month before and below the platform's historical average of 0.35 (Gurufocus).

The buy/sell ratio compares how much stock insiders are buying versus selling. A reading of 0.25 means that for every dollar of stock insiders sold, they bought just 25 cents' worth. The historical average of 0.35 tells us the current tilt toward selling is stronger than usual, though the ratio has been even lower in past market cycles.

This builds on a pattern from earlier in the year. In February 2026, Reuters reported 2,260 cases of insiders selling shares versus 543 cases of buying — a seller-to-buyer ratio of 4.2, the highest in 20 months — based on data from the Washington Service (Reuters). That February spike lined up with a choppy stock market, though the data doesn't prove that market swings caused the selling.

MarketWatch, reporting on those February figures on April 6, pushed back against the gloomy headlines. Its analysis found that insiders were "slightly more bullish in March than in February," which suggests the February spike may not have been a lasting trend (MarketWatch). A separate MarketWatch article from July 2024 had already reported that "Corporate insiders are dumping stock at the fastest rate in more than a decade," showing that heavy selling has shown up across multiple time periods (MarketWatch).

But not every insider sale means the same thing. Walmart disclosed in an SEC filing that CEO Doug McMillon is set to sell 19,416 shares each month from June 2026 through January 2027 under a pre-arranged trading plan, known as a 10b5-1 plan (SEC Filing). These plans are set up in advance to automatically sell shares on a schedule, which protects executives from being accused of trading on information the public doesn't have. The catch is that these automatic sales can pump up the total selling numbers without reflecting a personal belief that the stock will go down.

That matters when you look at the $77.6 billion figure. The 20% year-over-year increase could come from a mix of automatic plan sales, personal decisions to cash out, and the fact that stock prices themselves rose. The data doesn't break these apart.

The broader picture here is a tug-of-war between two stories. On one side, a buy/sell ratio of 0.25 is below the 0.35 historical average, and February's 4.2 seller-to-buyer ratio was a 20-month high — both lean toward the bearish side. On the other, MarketWatch reported insiders were slightly more bullish in March, and we know from filings like Walmart's that a chunk of the selling is pre-scheduled, not a reaction to market conditions.

The dollar figure has another wrinkle. A 20% increase in the dollar value of selling doesn't necessarily mean insiders are 20% more eager to sell. If stock prices rose, the same number of shares sold would produce a higher dollar total. So the $77.6 billion reflects both how many shares insiders chose to sell and how high prices were when they sold.

If you follow insider activity as one clue among many about where the market might be headed, the current signal points toward more selling but comes with noise. Selling is elevated by several measures, the buy/sell ratio is below its norm, and some of that volume is locked in by pre-set plans rather than driven by a deliberate choice. The numbers are worth paying attention to, but they are not, on their own, a signal to act.