As October 5 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings showed, top Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) insiders engaged in substantial selling earlier in the same month, trading a total of over 250,000 shares.
Notably, both the former and the current CEO of the blue-chip technology giant participated in the market activity.
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To begin with, Tim Cook, who stepped down from his role on September 1, 2026, dumped 191,753 Apple shares on October 2 at an average price of $332.96, making a total of $63.8 million. This was his first such insider trade since retiring as CEO and his second in 2026.
Simultaneously, the current chief executive officer, John Ternus, executed his first sale since taking the role, as he offloaded 25,412 AAPL at an average price of $332.94, raising nearly $8.5 million.
Lastly, Senior Vice President Deirdre O’Brien also engaged in insider selling on October 2. She sold a total of 46,389 Apple shares at an average price of $333.42, making almost $15.5 million.
Overall, the October 5 filings showed that the technology giant’s senior personnel dumped more than $87 million worth of AAPL in a single day.
Crucially, the sum of all insider selling between January 1 and September 30 comes in at approximately $116 million, meaning a single day last week saw nearly 43% of the 2026 volume.
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This signal is triggered upon the reporting of the trade to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Apple stock outperforms wider market and main rival in 2026
Meanwhile, the latest batch of Apple insider trading came at a time when the equity continued its generally steady 2026 rise. Indeed, the big tech firm rose 28.60% year-to-date (YTD) from $258.86 to $332.89.
So far, it has outperformed its traditional rival, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the shares of which are up 11.05% YTD, and the wider market. Indeed, the Nasdaq-100 index is up 23.29%, and the S&P500 benchmark rose 13.35% within the same timeframe.
The firm has also continued its overall trajectory under new management, and Apple stock is up 2.39% since CEO John Ternus took over on September 1, 2026.
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