undamentalytics Newsletter

Heffernan James P: insider trades

Director at United Natural Foods Inc. No open-market purchases and 13 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from January 12, 2010 to October 4, 2018.

What happened after Heffernan James P’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −26.3% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 77% 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

Heffernan James P: 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 13 −0.7% +5.0% 39% 7 −0.38 0.72 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 13 −26.3% −19.7% 77% 7 −2.06 0.085 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 13 −28.1% −23.7% 77% 7 −2.27 0.064 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
United Natural Foods Inc UNFI —013January 12, 2010October 4, 2018

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
October 4, 2018October 2, 2018 UNFI Sale $112,690 −49.2%−78.1%−75.3%
December 19, 2017December 18, 2017 UNFI Sale $394,236 −13.7%−71.7%−76.1%
December 14, 2017December 12, 2017 UNFI Sale $823,553 −17.6%−77.2%−78.4%
October 2, 2017September 28, 2017 UNFI Sale $126,076 +14.1%−44.4%−46.3%
September 26, 2017September 26, 2017 UNFI Sale $117,785 +9.6%−48.0%−49.1%
October 20, 2014October 17, 2014 UNFI Sale $864,500 +12.0%−22.8%−24.3%
October 15, 2013October 11, 2013 UNFI Sale $71,767 −0.4%−15.8%−23.6%
June 17, 2013June 13, 2013 UNFI Sale $56,392 +21.3%−1.0%−4.5%
June 12, 2012June 8, 2012 UNFI Sale $1,032,600 +6.4%−19.7%−23.7%
March 29, 2011March 25, 2011 UNFI Sale $137,145 −3.0%−1.1%−2.4%
June 23, 2010June 21, 2010 UNFI Sale $26,382 +5.0%+13.6%+10.7%
June 17, 2010June 15, 2010 UNFI Sale $80,760 +5.6%+9.4%+6.4%
January 12, 2010January 11, 2010 UNFI Sale $58,541 +0.9%+15.3%+21.2%

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