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Seale Donald W: insider trades

Officer at Norfolk Southern. No open-market purchases and 8 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from November 14, 2011 to November 25, 2014.

What happened after Seale Donald W’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −11.9% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 63% 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

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 8 −4.9% −2.7% 63% 4 −1.03 0.38 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 8 −11.9% −14.0% 63% 4 −1.67 0.19 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 8 −12.2% −14.2% 63% 4 −1.70 0.19 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
Norfolk Southern NSC Exec. V.P. and CMO08November 14, 2011November 25, 2014

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
November 25, 2014November 24, 2014 NSC Sale $3,719,644 −8.1%−19.0%−19.2%
August 29, 2014August 27, 2014 NSC Sale $3,407,789 −3.1%−24.6%−26.3%
December 9, 2013December 6, 2013 NSC Sale $715,298 +3.7%+0.8%+1.5%
October 29, 2013October 28, 2013 NSC Sale $877,400 +5.4%+13.5%+14.5%
March 7, 2013March 5, 2013 NSC Sale $984,543 −2.3%+6.0%+3.9%
April 30, 2012April 27, 2012 NSC Sale $1,869,200 +1.8%−9.0%−9.1%
December 6, 2011December 5, 2011 NSC Sale $898,016 −19.7%−29.4%−31.6%
November 14, 2011November 11, 2011 NSC Sale $994,764 −17.2%−33.6%−31.5%

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 Seale Donald W traded and do not suggest the use of non-public information. How every insider compares · the insider trading backtest.