Insider Radar — Week of August 17, 2026
Insider selling eased to $5.09 billion in the week of August 17 and reported buying fell 39% to $309.6 million, but the composition is what stands out. Officers and directors accounted for just $79.2 million of the buying, 26% of the total and the lowest share in the twenty-six weeks we have measured. A single 10% holder, Bill Gates's Cascade Investment, put up $216.0 million of it, adding Republic Services for the second straight week. The only individual purchase above $10 million came from Energy Transfer director Kelcy Warren, who bought a million units for $21.3 million.
Officers and directors bought $79.2 million of their own companies in the week of August 17, 2026, just 26% of the $309.6 million total and the lowest share in twenty-six weeks. One 10% holder did most of the rest: Bill Gates's Cascade Investment added another $216.0 million of Republic Services. Only four sitting officers bought more than $1 million all week.
Buying was thin, and one 10% holder was 70% of it
Reported buying came to $309.6M across 343 events, down 39% from $506.4M the week before. Cascade Investment, the holding company of Bill Gates and a longtime 10% owner of Republic Services (RSG), accounted for $216.0M of that, or 70% of everything bought. It took 986,055 shares across three filings between August 17 and 21 at prices from $213.00 to $224.09. That is the second straight week Cascade has been the largest buyer on the tape: combined with the prior week's $218.7M, it has added 1,999,929 shares for $434.7M in ten trading days. A large holder averaging into a position it has held for years is accumulation, and it is worth watching at this size, but it is not the same signal as an executive reaching into their own pocket.
Strip out the 10% holders and the entities and very little is left. Officers and directors bought $79.2M, which is 26% of the week's total and the lowest share in the twenty-six weeks of this series. The next lowest is 38%, and that was the week before. Only one individual purchase cleared $10M: Energy Transfer (ET) director Kelcy Warren bought exactly 1,000,000 common units on August 18 and 19 at $21.26 to $21.27, for $21.3M. Energy Transfer is a partnership, so those are units rather than shares.
Sitting officers were close to absent. Four of them bought more than $1M all week, and the largest was $2.6M: American Assets Trust (AAT) executive chairman Ernest Rady added 113,586 shares at $22.55 to $22.77 across five sessions. Behind him, i-80 Gold (IAUX) president and chief executive Richard Scott Young put in $1.6M at $1.62, Kura Oncology (KURA) president and chief executive Troy Wilson bought $1.1M at $11.12, and Alaska Air (ALK) chief executive Ben Minicucci bought $1.0M at $40.06.
What the week did have is small director clusters, which is usually a better read than any single purchase. Two Alpha Metallurgical Resources (AMR) directors bought $8.1M between them, Kenneth Courtis taking 30,000 shares for $6.1M at $189.84 to $211.09 and Michael Gorzynski adding $2.1M at $208.92. Two Global Water Resources (GWRS) directors put $7.0M in on the same day at a flat $8.85, Jonathan Levine for $5.8M and Andrew Cohn for $1.2M. Three Odysight.ai (ODYS) directors bought $3.9M at a flat $3.20. The flat prices in the last two say these were negotiated, not worked into the market. Further down the list, Suja Life (SUJA) shows $6.7M from Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund V and Enhanced Group (ENHA) $3.3M from Apeiron Investment Group, both funds putting money into companies they already control rather than insiders buying stock.
| Ticker | Buyer | Role | Event value | Price | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ET | Kelcy L. Warren | Director | $21.3M | $21.26–$21.27 | Aug 18–19 |
| PAM | Marcos Marcelo Mindlin | Director and 10% holder | $6.6M | $3.34–$3.38 | Aug 18–21 |
| AMR | Kenneth S. Courtis | Director | $6.1M | $189.84–$211.09 | Aug 20–21 |
| GWRS | Jonathan L. Levine | Director | $5.8M | $8.85 | Aug 20 |
| ODYS | Moshe Arkin | Director and 10% holder | $3.6M | $3.20 | Aug 20 |
| AAT | Ernest S. Rady | Executive Chairman | $2.6M | $22.55–$22.77 | Aug 17–21 |
| BKKT | Michael Alfred | Director | $2.1M | $7.12 | Aug 18 |
| AMR | Michael Gorzynski | Director and 10% holder | $2.1M | $208.92 | Aug 21 |
| IAUX | Richard Scott Young | President and CEO | $1.6M | $1.62 | Aug 18 |
| GWRS | Andrew M. Cohn | Director | $1.2M | $8.85 | Aug 20 |
| KURA | Troy Edward Wilson | President and CEO | $1.1M | $11.12 | Aug 17 |
| ALK | Benito Minicucci | CEO and President | $1.0M | $40.06 | Aug 20 |
Selling fell to $5.09 billion, and the top of the list is sponsors leaving at one price
Insiders and large holders disposed of $5.09B across 1,252 events, down 17% from $6.15B. Against buying that gives a ratio of 16.5 to 1, above the 14.5 to 1 median of the twenty-five preceding weeks but well inside the normal range for a market where insiders sell for tax, diversification and liquidity reasons that have nothing to do with a view. The ratio is not the story this week. The composition of the buying is.
As usual the raw sell total double counts blocks that related filers report separately, and this week that overcount is $419.1M across sixteen groups. Aveanna Healthcare (AVAH) is the largest: Paul Vigano and Robert Williams Jr each report the same 16,750,002 shares at $11.50, $192.6M apiece, and J.H. Whitney Equity Partners VII files a further $169.6M at the same price. DST Global Advisors filed two identical $156.9M sales of Chime (CHYM) and then two identical $28.1M sales, so the ticker's $370.1M gross is nearer $185.1M counted once. At Astera Labs (ALAB), Sanjay Gajendra and Jitendra Mohan each report 90,630 shares across eighteen tranches at identical prices, $30.9M each. Count every co-filed block once and the week sits near $4.68B.
The five largest disposals were all sponsors or strategic holders exiting at a fixed price rather than anyone trading the tape. BDT Capital Partners sold $589.6M of Alliance Laundry (ALH) in a single block at $22.7362 on August 20. Uber sold $471.6M of Aurora Innovation (AUR) at a flat $6.55 on August 17. Trive Capital took $145.8M out of Lyntris (LYNX) at $17.50, and the Aveanna and Chime blocks above complete the set. Scheduled plans did $1.36B of the selling, about 27% of open-market sales, up from 24% the week before. Cerebras Systems (CBRS) supplied the two largest: chief technology officer Sean Lie sold $155.8M across the week under a plan at $203.78 to $240.01, and chief executive Andrew Feldman sold $53.3M. Snowflake (SNOW) director Frank Slootman filed $97.4M of scheduled sales, and Micron (MU) president and chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra sold $38.8M at $959.14 to $989.59.
The largest unscheduled sales by individuals were both directors trimming into strength. Keith Meister sold $145.6M of Illumina (ILMN) across twenty-eight tranches at $202.37 to $220.13 between August 19 and 21, and Ronda Stryker sold $117.8M of Stryker (SYK) at $331.74 to $343.47 over two days.
| Ticker | Seller | Role | Event value | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALH | BDT Capital Partners, LLC | Director entity and 10% holder | $589.6M | Block at $22.74 | Aug 20 |
| AUR | Uber Technologies, Inc. | 10% holder | $471.6M | Block at $6.55 | Aug 17 |
| AVAH | Paul R. Vigano / Robert M. Williams Jr. | 10% holders (co-filed, one block) | $192.6M | Block at $11.50 | Aug 20–21 |
| AVAH | J.H. Whitney Equity Partners VII, LLC | 10% holder | $169.6M | Block at $11.50 | Aug 20–21 |
| CHYM | DST Global Advisors Ltd | 10% holder (two identical filings, one block) | $156.9M | $32.21–$33.54 | Aug 18–19 |
| CBRS | Sean Lie | Chief Technology Officer | $151.1M | 10b5-1 | Aug 20–21 |
| LYNX | Trive Capital Holdings LLC | 10% holder | $145.8M | Block at $17.50 | Aug 20 |
| ILMN | Keith A. Meister | Director | $145.6M | Open market | Aug 19–21 |
| SYK | Ronda E. Stryker | Director | $117.8M | Open market | Aug 18–19 |
| SNOW | Frank Slootman | Director | $97.4M | 10b5-1 | Aug 18–19 |
| PLTR | Alexander C. Karp | Officer and director | $86.1M | 10b5-1 | Aug 20 |
| VAC | Christian Asmar | Director and 10% holder | $83.6M | Block at $111.49 | Aug 19 |
Methodology
Source data is public SEC Form 4 filings collected by AlphaAI, covering transactions dated August 17 through August 23, 2026. Transactions are grouped into events by filing, issuer and ownership form, so a sale executed in many tranches under one filing counts once rather than inflating the count. Event groups summing above $1 billion are excluded, because at that size the row is almost always a merger, tender or reorganisation rather than a discretionary trade; one event hit that cap this week, a $1.10 billion Birkenstock (BIRK) disposal reported by James Michael Chu. Purchases are P-code transactions, disposals are S and D codes. Where related filers co-file the same block, the duplicate is flagged in prose and the table rather than silently summed; this week those duplicates come to $419.1 million across sixteen groups, and counting each block once puts the week's selling near $4.68 billion. Activity filed under 10b5-1 plans is split out, because those trades are scheduled months ahead and say nothing about what a seller thinks now. Roles come from the officer, director and 10 percent holder flags on the filing itself, and titles are used only where the filing supplies one, which is why Palantir's Alexander Karp is shown as officer and director rather than by title: his filing gives the title as "See Remarks". Values are shares multiplied by the reported price, with no currency normalisation, so rows priced outside US dollars or on a non-market basis are screened out of the totals by hand. Two were screened this week. Securetech Innovations (SCTH), an over-the-counter shell, filed a $100.0 million "purchase" of 1,000 Series A preferred shares at $100,000 each, which is a stated value rather than a market price. EBR Systems filed without a usable ticker at a price denominated in Australian dollars on the ASX. One row was kept but is easy to misread: Pampa Energia (PAM) reports the issuer's common shares rather than the New York ADR, so its $3.34 to $3.38 price is not comparable to the ADR quote. The recent median sell to buy ratio covers the twenty-five preceding weeks that each had more than $10 million of reported buying. Prior-week comparisons are recomputed from the current database, which keeps accreting late filings, so they differ slightly from figures as originally published: the prior issue's $501.7 million of buying now stands at $506.4 million and its 1,509 filings at 1,518. The window was pulled on August 27, after the two-business-day filing deadline for every transaction date in it had closed; per-day filing counts across the window were flat with no cut tail, and filings arriving after August 25 added $7.4 million, about 0.1% of the window's value. This is a readout of public filings and not investment advice.
Sources: SEC EDGAR Form 4 filings
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