undamentalytics Newsletter

Hedge Len: insider trades

Officer at Align Technology. No open-market purchases and 18 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from February 3, 2010 to February 12, 2013.

What happened after Hedge Len’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +7.1% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 33% 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

Hedge Len: 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 18 +2.7% +6.7% 33% 4 0.09 0.94 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 18 +7.1% +2.3% 33% 4 1.08 0.36 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 18 +5.9% +1.4% 39% 4 0.91 0.43 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
Align Technology ALGN SVP, Business Operations018February 3, 2010February 12, 2013

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
February 12, 2013February 11, 2013 ALGN Sale $330,002 +0.9%+44.2%+44.8%
February 6, 2013February 4, 2013 ALGN Sale $3,138,000 +2.3%+49.2%+52.3%
July 25, 2012July 24, 2012 ALGN Sale $4,015,264 −27.3%−5.3%−0.2%
May 23, 2012May 22, 2012 ALGN Sale $427,685 −3.9%−13.3%−10.2%
May 7, 2012May 3, 2012 ALGN Sale $19,500 +8.9%−5.1%−9.1%
May 3, 2012May 1, 2012 ALGN Sale $442,721 +6.7%−7.8%−15.7%
April 30, 2012April 26, 2012 ALGN Sale $2,371,979 +7.4%−15.7%−11.2%
February 22, 2012February 21, 2012 ALGN Sale $137,550 +20.6%+4.9%+5.1%
February 17, 2012February 16, 2012 ALGN Sale $256,800 +19.2%+5.1%+3.5%
February 10, 2012February 8, 2012 ALGN Sale $547,410 +16.2%+8.2%+7.2%
November 15, 2011November 11, 2011 ALGN Sale $712,947 +11.4%+5.2%+1.8%
November 10, 2011November 8, 2011 ALGN Sale $459,011 +7.5%+1.8%+2.8%
November 7, 2011November 4, 2011 ALGN Sale $1,125,221 +7.4%+2.8%+0.1%
November 3, 2011November 1, 2011 ALGN Sale $908,658 +6.7%+0.1%+1.1%
May 20, 2011May 19, 2011 ALGN Sale $505,890 −13.9%+31.9%+24.4%
April 27, 2011April 26, 2011 ALGN Sale $1,074,485 −4.3%+27.5%+24.1%
February 19, 2010February 18, 2010 ALGN Sale $180,000,000 −10.1%−7.4%−6.2%
February 3, 2010February 1, 2010 ALGN Sale $580,902 −7.9%+0.8%−8.2%

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