January 2022 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.
The aggregate value of Form 144 filings fell sharply to start the year, sliding 88% from December. As shown on the graph below, the value of 144s last month was 60% lower than in January 2021. The value of 10b5-1 144s similarly slid 87% from the prior month, and dropped 62% year-over-year. The total number of shares brokered was 57% below December’s total, but slightly higher than the shares brokered in January 2021. Additionally, brokers filed 51% fewer filings in January compared to December.
Morgan Stanley retained the top broker title in January by brokering over a third of the market’s reported value. Their result was driven in large part by brokering the month’s largest trade in ROKU. JP Morgan Chase finished in second place, while Goldman Sachs took the third spot. E*TRADE came in fourth, while brokering the second highest number of filings last month. Raymond James rounded out the rankings, and was boosted by brokering one of the month’s largest trades for NXST.
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The Washington Service Research Team