July 2021 144 Market Report
Since April 2020, the SEC began accepting Form 144 filings digitally via email, however the number of filings disseminated has been lower than typically expected. Since email submission has been ongoing for over 12 months, we can resume our normal offering including YoY comparisons and broker rankings. Care should be taken in drawing conclusions from the data that may not yet be complete due to COVID-related disruptions.
In July, the value of Form 144 filings tumbled 71% from June’s elevated figures. As shown on the graph below, the value of 144s was also 14% lower than in July 2020. The number of shares brokered slid by 79% from June, and the total number of filings dropped by 46% from the prior month. Interestingly, the number of filings in July was 13% higher than July 2020. The value of 10b5-1 144s fell by 50% from last month (see graph below), but slid by just 8% year-over-year.
Morgan Stanley claimed the top broker title in July, and was boosted by brokering three of the five largest trades this month in APO, BEIGF, and CMG. Charles Schwab took second place, despite only brokering the seventh highest number of shares in July. JP Morgan Chase finished third, and brokered the month’s second biggest filing at SE. Goldman Sachs and UBS rounded out the rankings.
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The Washington Service Research Team