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Gradient Analytics

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It has been observed that companies tend to underperform when their insiders use trading plans to sell stock. New research also points to the conclusion that more aggressive plans are associated with the lowest performances. Gradient Analytics Inc., an independent research firm, followed insider sales of 30 companies and concluded that “aggressive” trading plans resulted in a 9.7% average underperformance in their companies’ stocks over 6 months. Insider-trading plans (also called 10b5-1 plans) are arrangements that allow the insiders of publicly traded companies to sell stocks they possess. To determine whether a trading plan can be considered “aggressive”, Gradient had specific measures. Gradient noticed in the summer of 2007 that Novatel Wireless Inc. executives had started selling through trading …show more content…

They also noticed that the amounts being sold were drastically larger than past selling. In fact, during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of that year, 9 of Novatel’s executives sold 1.4 million shares for 33 million dollars. Gradient noticed more aggressive behavior when those same executives dropped over half of their beneficial ownership of Novatel with the sales of these stocks. Also, any plan less than 12 months is considered aggressive. The President and Acting Chief Executive of Novatel, George B. Weinert, had only a 6-month plan. After Gradient’s report, Novatel’s shares dropped over 50% in 6 months. The lesson of this article is that when a company starts to use insider-trading plans, it may be time to sell that company’s stock. An SEC spokesperson has declined to comment on if they believe some companies could abuse 10b5-1

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