December 2021 144 Market Report
Due to a continued disruption in the dissemination of Form 144 filings from the SEC, we were not be able to release the normal 144 Market Data Report this month. Form 144’s are normally received by the SEC on paper and disseminated via the Public Reference Room. Due to social distancing requirements, no filings have been released from the Public Reference Room since April 3. In April, the SEC started accepting Form 144 filings digitally via email, but the number of filings received and disseminated has been lower than in previous periods.
In December, the aggregate value of Form 144 filings slid 25%, following November’s surge. As shown on the graph below, the value of 144s last month was 53% higher than in December 2020. The value of 10b5-1 Form 144s slid 6% from the previous month, but jumped 125% year-over-year. The number of shares brokered fell 21% from November, but the total number of shares brokered was 18% higher than a year ago. Additionally, brokers filed 29% fewer filings in December than they did in November.
Morgan Stanley retained the top broker title in December by brokering over 64% of the market’s reported value, and just over half of the total shares brokered. Their result was driven in large part by brokering all of the month’s top five trades in TSLA for Elon Musk. Goldman Sachs finished in second place, and was the only other broker in the rankings to broker more than $1 billion in 144s last month. UBS and JP Morgan Chase finished in third and fourth. E*TRADE rounded out the rankings, and finished second in the number of filings brokered last month.
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