Nearly 89% of Companies are Seeing Insider Selling, But these 3 are Seeing Substantial Buying

Insiders have become bearish.

In fact, according to MarketWatch, “Corporate insiders have taken a sharply pessimistic turn – selling their companies’ shares at the fastest rate in at least a decade.”

Plus, as of late July, about 11% of companies with recent insider transactions saw more buying than selling. In short, 89% of companies experienced more selling than buying.

However, don’t let that insider selling concern you. 

For one, we have to consider that a good number of insiders just saw their company’s stock explode higher, and they’re simply taking wins off the table.  They may be taking the money for personal expenses like buying a home or funding a child’s education. 

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares for about $6 million on July 16, 2025. “The transaction was conducted under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on December 2, 2024. The plan allows executives to pre-schedule sales of stock in compliance with insider trading regulations,” as noted by TechGraph.co.

Microsoft executives, including Bradford Smith, sold 75,000 shares in May for about $32.7 million. This was around the time MSFT gapped from about $390 to $436 a share on strong earnings and positive growth forecasts.

Executive Vice President Amy Coleman also sold about 13,242 shares for nearly $6 million on May 15. Again, this was after MSFT gapped from about $390 to $436 a share on strong earnings and positive growth forecasts.

Meta director Robert Kimmitt sold $335,134 in stock, as the stock raced to a 52-week high.

So, again, don’t let insider selling concern you.

Many times, insiders are selling because their stocks just exploded higher, perhaps they needed extra money for personal reasons, or they’re just safely taking money off the table.

Unless an insider is suddenly dumping most of their shares, ignore it.

For those who want to buy where insiders are buying, consider these stocks.

Advanced Micro Devices 

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD | AMD Price Prediction) Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Philip Guido, bought 8,800 shares of the stock for just under $1 million on May 20.

With AMD, we have to remember the company is exposed to a multi-billion-dollar addressable market for data center AI chips. In fact, according to company Chair and CEO Lisa Su, the addressable market for AI chips will reach $500 billion by 2028, which is up from her prior estimate for $400 billion by the time 2027 rolls around.

“This is roughly equivalent to the annual sales for the entire semiconductor industry in 2023. Su is optimistic about the long-term market size potential for AI chips and believes that AI demand has exceeded the company’s expectations over the past year,” as noted by Barron’s.

Also, the company’s latest generation of AI chips, the MI300, is its fastest ramping product ever. Lisa Su added that AMD’s MI300X chip, which rivals dominant AI chipmaker Nvidia’s H100, is “the most advanced AI accelerator in the industry,” as noted by Time.com.

CRISPR Therapeutics 

There’s a lot to like about CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP).

For one, company director Simeon George picked up 989,812 shares for about $51.5 million. Two, the company’s Casgevy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalaasemia are the first-ever US FDA-approved gene editing therapies on the market. And three, it’s working on tackling cancer and heart disease.

Plus, as noted by Precedence Research, the global gene-editing drug business is set to grow to $55.43 billion by 2034 from $9.26 billion in 2024.

ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips’ (NYSE: COP) Executive Vice President, Kirk Johnson, bought $499,472 worth of ConocoPhillips. He bought 5,300 shares for $94.24 each. Around that time, the oil giant was just starting to pivot higher, with oil set to gush with an intensifying war with Iran.

Even now, with COP trading at $91.35, it’s still an attractive, oversold opportunity with a yield of 3.42%. Helping, the company recently delivered strong operational results in the first quarter of 2025, exceeding production guidance while reducing capital and operating costs.

Analysts are also bullish on the COP stock.

Analysts at UBS just raised their price target for COP to $115 from $111 with a buy rating. This was issued ahead of second-quarter numbers, which UBS anticipates will show strong operational performance. Wells Fargo analysts reiterated an overweight rating on the COP stock with a price target of $117 from $113.

Analysts at Piper Sandler also raised their price target on COP to $157 from $145 with an overweight rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $119 from $118 with an overweight rating, as well.