Insiders Sell These High-Quality Stocks: Why Investors Shouldn’t

Insiders are selling Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), and Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) because the companies utilize share-based compensation, and the share prices have been rising.

Not only do the insider sales align with these trends, but others, including quarterly performance, guidance, and analysts’ sentiment, suggest the share prices will move higher. Here’s a look at who’s selling and why investors shouldn’t. 

Dell Technologies Insider Repositions Portfolio: Volatility Ensues

Dell Technologies insiders, including its CEO and founder, Michael Dell, are selling in 2025. However, Mr. Dell’s latest sale was in June, and the bulk of 2025 activity is by major shareholder and board member Silver Lake Group. The company’s exact holdings are hard to pin down but are estimated in the high double digits, topping the 20% mark in 2025. The reason they sell is most likely because of portfolio rebalancing in the wake of DELL’s massive share price increase. Silver Lake has been involved with Dell since 2013 and has seen a 500% increase in the share price since the 2018 IPO. 

The takeaway for investors is that Silver Lake presents an overhang for the market, but one with limits. Other factors, including institutional and analyst support, will drive the share price for this tech stock higher over time. Institutions, which own nearly 80% of the stock, including the Silver Lake stake, have been buying on balance all year, while analysts’ sentiment trends are bullish and strengthening. They include increasing coverage, steady sentiment pegged at Moderate Buy, and an uptrend in the price target revisions. The consensus forecasts a 20% increase as of early September, but the trend is leading to the high-end range near $167 for an additional +13%.

Snowflake Selling Ramps to Record High in Q3

Snowflake insiders have been selling all year, and the activity ramped to a record high in Q3. The latest transactions include EVP Christian Kleinerman and Director Frank Slootman, who has done the lion’s share of sales this year. The critical factor is that sales align with share-based compensation trends, there are sales plans in place, and the headwind they present is minor, given the analysts and institutional trends. 

Institutions have been buying this stock aggressively all year. The balance of activity in each quarter, including the first half of Q3 2025, is bullish with total buying more than any quarter preceding 2025 and buying outpacing selling by more than three-to-one on a dollar basis. They provide a solid support base for this market, and the analysts are equally bullish. Their data trends include increasing coverage, firming sentiment verging on Strong Buy, and a rising price target. The analysts forecast a 12% upside at the consensus; the high-end range adds 10% to it. 

Chewy Insiders Sell Into the Rally

Chewy insiders are selling into their stock’s price rally in 2025. InsiderTrades tracks sales from the CTO, CAO, and CEO, with activity ramping to a record high in Q2 2025, then slacking off to a dribble in Q3. They may continue to sell into the rally, but present a minor headwind due to the low 0.45% total insider ownership and offsetting analyst trends. The analyst’s coverage is increasing, Q3 upgrades have the sentiment firming, and the price target is rising, forecasting a 5% increase at the consensus and closer to 20% at the high-end range. 

The institutions are a risk for Chewy investors. The insiders present a minor headwind owning less than 1% of the stock, but the institutions are a more potent force, owning closer to 95% of the stock, and they sold in the first half of Q3. That may be caution ahead of the FQ2 earnings report, but that remains to be seen: if that trend continues or strengthens, CHWY stock may have difficulty continuing its share price uptrend. 

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Experience

Thomas Hughes has been a contributing writer for InsiderTrades.com since 2019.

• Professional Background: Thomas Hughes is the Managing Partner of Passive Market Intelligence LLC, a market research platform he launched in 2023 with the mission: “We watch the market so you don’t have to.” He has worked as a blogger, stock market commentator, and independent analyst since 2010 and has been actively involved in trading and investing since 2005.
• Credentials: He holds an Associate of Arts in Culinary Technology—training that honed his discipline, attention to detail, and ability to anticipate outcomes, all of which carry over into his work as a market analyst.
• Finance Experience: Thomas has been writing about finance and investing since 2011, when he discovered it could be more than a personal passion—it could be a profession. He’s been a contributing writer for InsiderTrades.com since 2019.
• Writing Focus: He specializes in the S&P 500, small-cap stocks, dividend and high-yield strategies, consumer staples, retail, technology, oil, and cryptocurrencies. His analysis blends chart-based technical setups with key fundamental insights, helping readers identify actionable trends.
• Investment Approach: Thomas takes a hybrid approach that combines technical analysis with deep fundamental research. He often writes about macroeconomic shifts, earnings trends, and sentiment-based trading signals.
• Inspiration: Thomas first became interested in stocks after attending a seminar on how to buy and sell your own shares. That event opened his eyes to the market’s potential and sparked a lifelong interest in investing.
• Fun Fact: Thomas took up model railroading by accident a few years ago—and now he can’t stop running the rails.
• Areas of Expertise: Technical and fundamental analysis, S&P 500, retail and consumer sectors, dividends, market trends

Education

Associate of Arts in Culinary Technology