undamentalytics Newsletter

Squires James A: insider trades

Chief executive, Officer, Director at Norfolk Southern. No open-market purchases and 17 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from May 4, 2012 to December 12, 2022.

What happened after Squires James A’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); 59% 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

Squires James A: 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 17 −2.1% +0.9% 47% 9 −0.76 0.47 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 17 −3.6% −2.5% 59% 9 −0.96 0.37 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 17 −3.9% −1.3% 65% 9 −1.07 0.32 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
Norfolk Southern NSC Chairman and CEO017May 4, 2012December 12, 2022

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
December 12, 2022December 8, 2022 NSC Sale $5,227,700 −18.1%−26.3%−25.9%
August 4, 2022August 2, 2022 NSC Sale $26,229,011 +0.9%−20.7%−17.5%
May 17, 2022May 16, 2022 NSC Sale $6,899,187 −0.3%−14.9%−16.6%
January 31, 2022January 28, 2022 NSC Sale $16,937,357 +1.5%+1.7%−1.3%
May 25, 2021May 24, 2021 NSC Sale $5,561,600 −13.7%−11.4%−11.5%
May 20, 2021May 18, 2021 NSC Sale $19,754,700 −12.2%−11.2%−9.0%
August 3, 2020July 31, 2020 NSC Sale $506,836 +11.9%−1.0%−0.5%
June 8, 2020June 4, 2020 NSC Sale $9,726,282 +3.9%+11.4%+10.4%
May 23, 2019May 21, 2019 NSC Sale $619,043 −15.8%−15.9%−19.2%
August 15, 2018August 13, 2018 NSC Sale $5,852,043 +1.4%−2.5%−0.7%
February 5, 2018February 1, 2018 NSC Sale $1,501,000 +3.1%+19.3%+18.3%
August 16, 2017August 15, 2017 NSC Sale $2,927,620 +2.1%+31.6%+29.5%
January 30, 2017January 26, 2017 NSC Sale $4,122,124 −4.2%+4.8%+1.5%
July 30, 2014July 29, 2014 NSC Sale $3,361,548 +5.8%−26.3%−23.7%
February 25, 2013February 22, 2013 NSC Sale $1,005,575 −1.8%+4.7%+3.9%
February 20, 2013February 19, 2013 NSC Sale $438,777 −1.3%+5.0%+4.7%
May 4, 2012May 3, 2012 NSC Sale $364,900 +1.4%−9.1%−8.8%

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