undamentalytics Newsletter

Heffner John: insider trades

Chief financial officer at Pricesmart Inc. No open-market purchases and 9 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from April 18, 2011 to November 14, 2017.

What happened after Heffner John’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +3.6% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 56% 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

Heffner John: 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 9 +11.7% −1.4% 56% 7 1.27 0.25 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 9 +3.6% −10.0% 56% 7 −0.02 0.99 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 9 +1.5% −5.3% 56% 7 −0.19 0.85 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
Pricesmart Inc PSMT EVP & Chief Financial Officer09April 18, 2011November 14, 2017

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
November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 PSMT Sale $250,000 −2.4%−25.2%−23.7%
February 10, 2017February 9, 2017 PSMT Sale $252,765 −1.4%−26.3%−22.6%
April 15, 2016April 14, 2016 PSMT Sale $276,924 −8.7%−11.8%−11.6%
April 21, 2015April 17, 2015 PSMT Sale $315,333 +27.5%+5.0%+5.3%
February 12, 2014February 11, 2014 PSMT Sale $190,640 −5.9%−26.5%−28.2%
April 16, 2013April 15, 2013 PSMT Sale $203,103 −2.3%−10.0%−5.3%
July 31, 2012July 27, 2012 PSMT Sale $138,413 +14.1%+8.1%+0.1%
July 27, 2011July 25, 2011 PSMT Sale $150,908 +31.3%+21.4%+12.7%
April 18, 2011April 14, 2011 PSMT Sale $96,850 +52.9%+97.7%+86.8%

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