undamentalytics Newsletter

Vice Thomas E: insider trades

Officer at Northrop Grumman. No open-market purchases and 9 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from August 12, 2011 to August 16, 2016.

What happened after Vice Thomas E’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +18.4% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 11% 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

Vice Thomas E: 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 +7.6% +7.3% 22% 5 2.92 0.043 Some evidence: seller wrong
Sales, 12 months after the report 9 +18.4% +19.3% 11% 5 4.49 0.011 Some evidence: seller wrong
Sales, 12 months after the trade 9 +17.7% +14.6% 0% 5 4.35 0.012 Some evidence: seller wrong

“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
Northrop Grumman NOC Corp VP & Pres Aerospace Sys09August 12, 2011August 16, 2016

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
August 16, 2016August 12, 2016 NOC Sale $4,576,086 +13.2%+11.0%+11.2%
March 7, 2016March 4, 2016 NOC Sale $438,315 +8.7%+10.6%+8.0%
November 20, 2014November 18, 2014 NOC Sale $531,510 +18.9%+34.4%+35.3%
December 4, 2013December 2, 2013 NOC Sale $4,527,010 +6.9%+19.2%+11.1%
May 21, 2013May 17, 2013 NOC Sale $748,800 +17.4%+33.7%+33.9%
August 14, 2012August 10, 2012 NOC Sale $1,783,668 −3.4%+22.3%+20.6%
August 8, 2012August 6, 2012 NOC Sale $1,263,937 −2.1%+20.6%+24.6%
February 23, 2012February 21, 2012 NOC Sale $3,061,739 +1.9%−0.4%+0.3%
August 12, 2011August 11, 2011 NOC Sale $493,233 +7.3%+14.4%+14.6%

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