undamentalytics Newsletter

Morris Donna: insider trades

Officer at Adobe Inc. No open-market purchases and 10 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from June 25, 2014 to January 28, 2020.

What happened after Morris Donna’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +26.1% 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

Morris Donna: 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 10 +4.8% +5.5% 40% 6 1.79 0.13 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 10 +26.1% +22.7% 0% 6 4.04 0.010 Strong evidence: seller wrong
Sales, 12 months after the trade 10 +26.1% +23.4% 0% 6 4.03 0.010 Strong 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
Adobe Inc. ADBE EVP, CHRO, Employee Experience010June 25, 2014January 28, 2020

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 28, 2020January 28, 2020 ADBE Sale $8,871,527 +9.0%+14.6%+13.0%
January 26, 2018January 25, 2018 ADBE Sale $5,810,953 +18.5%+26.6%+27.6%
July 21, 2017July 20, 2017 ADBE Sale $1,500,000 +12.8%+56.0%+56.5%
June 27, 2017June 23, 2017 ADBE Sale $725,000 −1.4%+53.4%+51.3%
March 23, 2016March 22, 2016 ADBE Sale $2,325,000 −0.3%+20.5%+19.5%
October 27, 2015October 26, 2015 ADBE Sale $1,408,800 +7.4%+16.8%+17.0%
April 29, 2015April 28, 2015 ADBE Sale $770,443 +5.3%+22.8%+24.7%
April 3, 2015April 2, 2015 ADBE Sale $756,400 +5.7%+23.2%+22.8%
December 17, 2014December 15, 2014 ADBE Sale $1,667,600 −0.6%+22.7%+23.9%
June 25, 2014June 23, 2014 ADBE Sale $2,586,935 −8.0%+4.1%+4.2%

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