undamentalytics Newsletter

Freedman James: insider trades

Officer at Progress Software Corp. No open-market purchases and 18 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from January 21, 2010 to May 19, 2011.

What happened after Freedman James’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −10.8% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 67% 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

Freedman James: 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 −6.0% −8.2% 61% 2 — — Not enough years
Sales, 12 months after the report 18 −10.8% −25.9% 67% 2 — — Not enough years
Sales, 12 months after the trade 18 −10.6% −25.8% 67% 2 — — Not enough years

“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
Progress Software Corp PRGS SVP & General Counsel018January 21, 2010May 19, 2011

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
May 19, 2011May 17, 2011 PRGS Sale $244,360 −18.5%−29.5%−28.2%
May 16, 2011May 12, 2011 PRGS Sale $466,043 −14.8%−28.2%−30.1%
May 5, 2011May 3, 2011 PRGS Sale $232,255 −11.6%−26.7%−25.8%
May 3, 2011April 29, 2011 PRGS Sale $112,127 −13.1%−25.1%−26.6%
April 28, 2011April 26, 2011 PRGS Sale $354,000 −14.0%−26.6%−25.9%
April 22, 2011April 20, 2011 PRGS Sale $138,587 −14.6%−29.5%−29.2%
April 19, 2011April 15, 2011 PRGS Sale $161,242 −15.0%−29.2%−30.4%
April 5, 2011April 4, 2011 PRGS Sale $330,219 −14.8%−28.3%−27.9%
February 3, 2011February 1, 2011 PRGS Sale $359,880 −9.9%−25.4%−27.0%
January 20, 2011January 18, 2011 PRGS Sale $439,600 −1.2%−33.4%−37.5%
November 22, 2010November 18, 2010 PRGS Sale $710,527 +2.4%−26.5%−22.7%
November 18, 2010November 16, 2010 PRGS Sale $121,943 +5.0%−22.9%−25.3%
May 5, 2010May 3, 2010 PRGS Sale $259,120 −6.6%+10.0%+17.4%
April 27, 2010April 23, 2010 PRGS Sale $193,740 +1.6%+22.5%+26.0%
April 21, 2010April 20, 2010 PRGS Sale $171,946 +4.5%+25.5%+26.5%
April 16, 2010April 14, 2010 PRGS Sale $306,280 +4.8%+30.6%+25.7%
March 29, 2010March 25, 2010 PRGS Sale $292,860 +5.5%+17.3%+16.4%
January 21, 2010January 19, 2010 PRGS Sale $285,509 +1.6%+31.6%+34.1%

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