Actually Micheal I did some research on this insider sales business that seems to keep floating around. Here are some stats:
1. 8/28/98-12/28/98 = 9,279,866 insider shares sold
2. 5/26/98-8/27/98 = 10,094,182 " " "
(these are split adjusted shares for sept 98 split)
So it looks like more insider shares were sold between 2nd and 3rd Q
than between 3rd and 4th Q. (and there is greatly increased sales activity around the split dates)
I played with this a little more and broke the data down by calendar year, which though not quarter specific I thought would reveal some pattern. You be the judge:
1996 Total insider shares sold = 26,809,712
1997 " " " " = 14,218,340
1998 " " " " = 24,509,348
1999 YTD " " " = 6,555,845
At least part of the volume this year is attributable to the regular insider practice of selling shares just prior to the split, which took place 3/5/99. Now it may be that much more insider selling MAY be happen this year, but that seems to be pure speculation which I try not to do. These are or course all split adjusted figures. Additionally, the large difference between 1997 and both 1998 and 1996 may be due to the fact that the stock actually split twice in 1998. From these figures I don't understand how one could honestly conclude that there is some significant insider selling, indeed it is entirely possible that insider selling my be lower this year than last. BTW this data is fairly difficult to assemble, anyone know of a site that breaks down the data historically by company and quarter? LOL |
