undamentalytics Newsletter

White Harvey: insider trades

Director at Viasat Inc. No open-market purchases and 10 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from March 2, 2012 to June 9, 2020.

What happened after White Harvey’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −28.2% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 80% trailed it.

With 296 insiders tested, some will look skilled or unskilled by chance alone: when we replaced each insider’s stocks with random companies bought on the same days, about 5.7 cleared the bar ahead and 23.3 behind. One record on its own proves little.

Trade by trade

White Harvey: trades against the S&P 500 afterwards
MeasuredTrades countedAverage vs S&P 500MedianWent the right wayYearst-statisticp-valueEvidence
Purchases, 3 months after the report 0 — — — — — — Not enough years
Purchases, 6 months after the report 0 — — — — — — Not enough years
Purchases, 12 months after the report 0 — — — — — — Not enough years
Purchases, 12 months after the trade 0 — — — — — — Not enough years
Sales, 3 months after the report 10 −7.7% −7.6% 80% 7 −2.38 0.055 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 10 −28.2% −19.1% 80% 7 −2.37 0.056 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 10 −28.0% −21.1% 80% 7 −2.38 0.055 No reliable evidence

“Average vs S&P 500” is the stock’s return including dividends minus the index’s over the same dates, from the close on the first trading day after the report, or from the close on the trade date. Only windows that have finished are counted. For sales, a negative figure means the stock lagged after it was sold, so selling was the right call (green). “Went the right way” is the share of purchases that beat the index, or of sales that trailed it. The t-statistic uses one average per year of reports, because one person’s trades bunch into the same stock and weeks, and needs trades in at least four different years; the p-value comes from the t distribution with that number of years (with four years, a t of 2 has p = 0.14). “Some evidence” means p under 5%, “strong evidence” p under 1% over at least six years.

Companies traded

CompanyTitle on the latest filingPurchasesSalesFirst reportLatest report
Viasat Inc VSAT —010March 2, 2012June 9, 2020

Trades and what followed

Moves are against the S&P 500; green means the trade went the insider’s way.

ReportedTradedCompanyTradeValue3 months after report12 months after report12 months after trade
June 9, 2020June 5, 2020 VSAT Sale $13,653 −19.1%−14.0%−19.0%
November 27, 2019November 25, 2019 VSAT Sale $1,902,650 −15.7%−71.2%−68.2%
August 29, 2019August 28, 2019 VSAT Sale $75,710 −15.3%−71.7%−71.3%
June 14, 2019June 13, 2019 VSAT Sale $330,968 −12.4%−61.4%−61.5%
November 28, 2017November 27, 2017 VSAT Sale $435,243 −9.9%−13.7%−11.6%
June 17, 2016June 15, 2016 VSAT Sale $198,212 +2.0%−24.2%−23.1%
June 16, 2015June 12, 2015 VSAT Sale $100,336 +6.3%+12.6%+10.0%
February 17, 2015February 13, 2015 VSAT Sale $251,640 −2.4%+14.8%+19.0%
May 24, 2013May 23, 2013 VSAT Sale $194,508 −5.2%−39.4%−40.6%
March 2, 2012March 1, 2012 VSAT Sale $230,650 −5.3%−13.9%−13.5%

Open-market purchases and sales of at least $10,000 in companies we cover, from SEC Form 4 filings; sales made under a pre-set Rule 10b5-1 plan are not shown. “Not yet” means the window has not finished or the share price was under $5 at entry. These are the shares’ moves after each trade: they say nothing about why White Harvey traded and do not suggest the use of non-public information. How every insider compares · the insider trading backtest.