undamentalytics Newsletter

Whitmore Robert W: insider trades

Officer at Seagate Technology. No open-market purchases and 17 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from January 27, 2011 to May 31, 2013.

What happened after Whitmore Robert W’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +27.9% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 0% 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

Whitmore Robert W: 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 +6.8% +3.0% 47% 3 — — Not enough years
Sales, 12 months after the report 17 +27.9% +22.0% 0% 3 — — Not enough years
Sales, 12 months after the trade 17 +28.7% +16.5% 0% 3 — — 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
Seagate Technology STX EVP & Chief Technical Officer017January 27, 2011May 31, 2013

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 31, 2013May 30, 2013 STX Sale $886,000 −12.1%+6.6%+9.0%
May 20, 2013May 17, 2013 STX Sale $1,232,700 −4.2%+12.3%+13.9%
February 6, 2013February 4, 2013 STX Sale $1,355,200 +7.7%+26.4%+32.4%
November 26, 2012November 21, 2012 STX Sale $810,000 +16.8%+64.3%+56.0%
November 6, 2012November 2, 2012 STX Sale $1,776,115 +14.5%+41.0%+55.8%
August 31, 2012August 30, 2012 STX Sale $1,624,000 −14.8%+6.7%+6.5%
August 6, 2012August 2, 2012 STX Sale $14,651,000 −9.3%+8.8%+14.8%
May 16, 2012May 14, 2012 STX Sale $2,852,200 +12.9%+20.6%+9.1%
May 3, 2012May 1, 2012 STX Sale $4,146,300 −0.6%+22.0%+16.5%
April 26, 2012April 24, 2012 STX Sale $1,191,400 +3.0%+15.0%+9.4%
April 24, 2012April 20, 2012 STX Sale $2,896,000 −11.2%+4.8%+13.2%
February 23, 2012February 21, 2012 STX Sale $813,000 −0.4%+7.9%+10.5%
February 3, 2012February 2, 2012 STX Sale $1,289,000 +17.2%+23.8%+22.5%
November 15, 2011November 11, 2011 STX Sale $259,592 +47.2%+49.3%+45.5%
November 10, 2011November 8, 2011 STX Sale $1,663,536 +42.3%+45.5%+58.6%
April 27, 2011April 25, 2011 STX Sale $5,403,000 −16.0%+66.7%+66.5%
January 27, 2011January 25, 2011 STX Sale $110,882 +21.7%+51.8%+46.9%

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