undamentalytics Newsletter

Pitofsky David B: insider trades

Officer at News Corp (Class A). No open-market purchases and 10 sales not made under a pre-set plan, reported from August 15, 2019 to August 18, 2026.

What happened after Pitofsky David B’s sales?

After their sales, the shares moved +5.1% against the index over 12 months on average (a negative figure means selling was the right call); 56% 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

Pitofsky David B: 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 −0.9% −0.2% 56% 7 −0.59 0.58 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the report 9 +5.1% −7.3% 56% 7 0.58 0.58 No reliable evidence
Sales, 12 months after the trade 9 +4.8% −6.5% 56% 7 0.55 0.60 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
News Corp (Class A) NWSA General Counsel010August 15, 2019August 18, 2026

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 18, 2026August 17, 2026 NWSA Sale $1,478,925 not yetnot yetnot yet
August 19, 2025August 15, 2025 NWSA Sale $1,297,269 −18.0%−17.9%−20.1%
August 16, 2024August 15, 2024 NWSA Sale $1,154,839 −1.7%−7.3%−8.1%
August 16, 2023August 15, 2023 NWSA Sale $1,216,840 −2.5%+5.0%+6.4%
March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 NWSA Sale $409,212 +4.1%+26.6%+24.2%
August 17, 2022August 15, 2022 NWSA Sale $1,536,384 +5.7%+9.7%+11.4%
August 17, 2021August 16, 2021 NWSA Sale $518,100 −0.2%−15.6%−18.0%
February 9, 2021February 9, 2021 NWSA Sale $349,120 +11.7%−14.3%−13.2%
June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 NWSA Sale $151,602 +5.4%+67.4%+67.2%
August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 NWSA Sale $427,610 −13.2%−7.6%−6.5%

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