undamentalytics Newsletter

Hayes John D: insider trades

Officer at American Express. No open-market purchases and 8 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from December 3, 2010 to May 30, 2014.

What happened after Hayes John D’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +3.9% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 25% 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

Hayes John D: 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 8 +0.5% −1.1% 50% 5 0.03 0.98 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 8 +3.9% +7.0% 25% 5 0.77 0.49 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 8 +4.0% +5.7% 25% 5 0.78 0.48 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
American Express AXP EVP, Advertising08December 3, 2010May 30, 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
May 30, 2014May 29, 2014 AXP Sale $3,579,397 −6.8%−23.6%−23.5%
January 23, 2014January 22, 2014 AXP Sale $14,483,546 −4.3%−20.2%−20.4%
May 23, 2013May 22, 2013 AXP Sale $13,806,257 −3.2%+4.6%+3.2%
February 26, 2013February 22, 2013 AXP Sale $1,993,280 +12.4%+21.4%+21.2%
November 8, 2012November 7, 2012 AXP Sale $15,164,619 +1.0%+16.5%+19.5%
March 1, 2012February 29, 2012 AXP Sale $2,929,646 +7.4%+8.7%+6.5%
May 2, 2011April 28, 2011 AXP Sale $3,342,684 +4.7%+18.6%+20.6%
December 3, 2010December 1, 2010 AXP Sale $7,572,730 −7.6%+5.3%+4.8%

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 Hayes John D traded and do not suggest the use of non-public information. How every insider compares · the insider trading backtest.