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Georgens Thomas: insider trades

Chief executive at NetApp. No open-market purchases and 21 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from June 3, 2010 to June 5, 2015.

What happened after Georgens Thomas’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −18.3% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 81% 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 21 −5.1% −4.0% 62% 6 −1.38 0.23 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 21 −18.3% −22.5% 81% 6 −5.73 0.002 Strong evidence: seller right
Sales, 12 months after the trade 21 −18.4% −23.5% 81% 6 −5.31 0.003 Strong evidence: seller right

“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
NetApp NTAP Former CEO021June 3, 2010June 5, 2015

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 5, 2015June 5, 2015 NTAP Sale $1,173,376 −0.1%−26.2%−27.3%
November 25, 2014November 21, 2014 NTAP Sale $4,238,000 −11.9%−29.6%−28.4%
August 20, 2014August 18, 2014 NTAP Sale $6,160,755 −0.7%−25.9%−33.4%
June 5, 2014June 5, 2014 NTAP Sale $843,693 +14.9%−14.6%−14.4%
December 12, 2013December 10, 2013 NTAP Sale $5,168,750 −11.4%−10.2%−11.9%
August 23, 2013August 21, 2013 NTAP Sale $5,177,500 −12.0%−22.5%−23.5%
June 7, 2013June 5, 2013 NTAP Sale $4,595,342 +10.3%−25.6%−24.7%
February 26, 2013February 22, 2013 NTAP Sale $4,089,998 +0.3%−5.5%−6.3%
December 21, 2012December 19, 2012 NTAP Sale $3,972,875 −10.2%−10.4%−9.2%
September 12, 2012September 10, 2012 NTAP Sale $1,877,661 −3.9%+5.4%+4.6%
August 27, 2012August 23, 2012 NTAP Sale $3,346,000 −9.1%+1.9%+5.9%
June 6, 2012June 4, 2012 NTAP Sale $562,803 +4.1%−4.4%−4.1%
March 15, 2012March 13, 2012 NTAP Sale $4,318,000 −25.3%−34.7%−34.8%
February 23, 2012February 21, 2012 NTAP Sale $4,298,000 −30.3%−33.5%−33.8%
June 21, 2011June 17, 2011 NTAP Sale $4,957,000 −20.3%−46.8%−45.7%
June 3, 2011June 2, 2011 NTAP Sale $832,241 −20.7%−40.3%−44.1%
March 24, 2011March 23, 2011 NTAP Sale $4,809,000 +4.2%−14.8%−15.4%
December 8, 2010December 6, 2010 NTAP Sale $10,676,000 −19.2%−34.1%−34.4%
September 13, 2010September 10, 2010 NTAP Sale $9,242,000 +4.3%−30.2%−29.1%
June 18, 2010June 16, 2010 NTAP Sale $7,168,000 +19.5%+5.7%+7.6%
June 3, 2010June 2, 2010 NTAP Sale $855,159 +10.7%+12.6%+14.7%

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