undamentalytics Newsletter

Wittenbraker Rick L: insider trades

Officer at Waste Management. No open-market purchases and 8 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from January 28, 2010 to February 20, 2014.

What happened after Wittenbraker Rick L’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −2.0% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 75% 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

Wittenbraker Rick L: 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 +1.0% −0.8% 50% 5 0.01 0.99 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 8 −2.0% −4.3% 75% 5 −0.10 0.92 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 8 −1.5% −3.2% 75% 5 −0.08 0.94 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
Waste Management WM SVP and General Counsel08January 28, 2010February 20, 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
February 20, 2014February 19, 2014 WM Sale $19,589 +3.5%+20.5%+19.5%
August 6, 2013August 5, 2013 WM Sale $40,512 −1.7%−8.6%−6.9%
February 19, 2013February 15, 2013 WM Sale $27,342 +7.2%−7.8%−5.7%
January 24, 2013January 23, 2013 WM Sale $56,956 +7.9%−0.2%−1.3%
February 21, 2012February 17, 2012 WM Sale $48,926 −2.9%−3.7%−2.9%
May 23, 2011May 20, 2011 WM Sale $57,237 −4.2%−12.4%−13.4%
February 18, 2010February 17, 2010 WM Sale $23,582 +0.1%−5.0%−3.5%
January 28, 2010January 28, 2010 WM Sale $14,724 −1.8%+1.4%+1.9%

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