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Errant James S: insider trades

Director at Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. No open-market purchases and 16 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from March 3, 2010 to January 23, 2019.

What happened after Errant James S’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved −12.7% 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

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 16 −10.8% −18.1% 75% 4 −0.58 0.60 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 16 −12.7% −27.2% 75% 4 1.07 0.36 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 16 −12.9% −33.0% 75% 4 1.18 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
Distribution Solutions Group, Inc. DSGR —016March 3, 2010January 23, 2019

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
January 23, 2019January 18, 2019 DSGR Sale $12,670,176 −2.0%+52.9%+54.2%
November 23, 2015November 19, 2015 DSGR Sale $281,650 −33.0%−21.8%−25.0%
November 19, 2015November 17, 2015 DSGR Sale $277,221 −31.6%−23.3%−22.9%
November 16, 2015November 12, 2015 DSGR Sale $19,075 −28.4%−22.9%−24.3%
November 12, 2015November 10, 2015 DSGR Sale $248,002 −22.7%−25.0%−33.8%
November 10, 2015November 6, 2015 DSGR Sale $324,168 −20.8%−31.2%−34.7%
November 6, 2015November 4, 2015 DSGR Sale $547,000 −21.6%−34.1%−34.0%
November 4, 2015November 2, 2015 DSGR Sale $291,620 −21.0%−33.2%−32.1%
October 28, 2015October 26, 2015 DSGR Sale $89,349 −20.3%−29.5%−33.9%
August 17, 2015August 11, 2015 DSGR Sale $17,091 +8.8%−36.1%−42.2%
August 4, 2015July 31, 2015 DSGR Sale $632,003 +8.2%−39.6%−47.6%
July 31, 2015July 29, 2015 DSGR Sale $362,616 −2.7%−45.8%−42.4%
July 29, 2015July 27, 2015 DSGR Sale $78,894 −2.4%−43.9%−41.9%
December 12, 2013December 12, 2013 DSGR Sale $92,775 +20.6%+60.7%+71.7%
November 18, 2013November 18, 2013 DSGR Sale $125,800 +11.7%+58.8%+61.7%
March 3, 2010March 2, 2010 DSGR Sale $86,750 −16.0%+10.4%+20.6%

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