What is the story about?
March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. corporate insiders sold far more shares in their companies than they bought in February, marking the largest gap since July 2024 and underscoring executives' reluctance to purchase stock during a volatile month for markets.
The pessimism among U.S. executives, who have the clearest view of their own businesses, emerged during growing fears of AI disruption in February and does not yet reflect the added shock from the Iran war.
While insider transactions are often shaped by
personal financial planning rather than a direct view on markets, analysts flagged that it might still serve as a sign of corporate caution.
* The seller-to-buyer ratio for U.S. public companies jumpedto 4.2 in February, its highest level in 20 months, data fromThe Washington Service showed. * There were 2,260 recorded instances of insiders selling,while only 543 recorded instances of insiders buying, theanalytics firm said. * February's total of individual sellers marks the highestfigure since August, with around $6.6 billion worth of sharessold * Including only S&P 500 companies, there were 833 instancesof executives selling shares last month, totaling more than $4.9billion, while only 74 executives bought, totaling more than$271 million. * The benchmark S&P 500 clocked its biggest monthly declinesince March 2025 last month as growing anxiety over AIdisruptions, tariff concerns and geopolitical worries hitsentiment * "Insiders are just like the rest of the investmentcommunity where they tend to react emotionally when there's agreat deal of uncertainty," said Art Hogan, chief marketstrategist at B Riley Wealth.(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
