February 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 in February jumped 130% from the prior month. However, as shown on the graph below, the value of 144s last month was 60% lower than in February 2021. The value of 10b5-1 144s rose 40% from January, but dropped 66% year-over-year. The total number of shares brokered was 79% higher than January’s total, but slightly lower than the number of shares brokered in February 2021. Brokers filed 47% more filings in February, but 51% fewer filings than a year ago.
Morgan Stanley retained the top broker title in February by brokering over half of the market’s reported value. Their result was driven in large part by brokering the month’s largest trades for NWG, GOOGL, XP, and YOU. By brokering eight large trades at MA, BMO Financial rose to second place. E*TRADE took the third spot while Charles Schwab came in fourth, and brokered one of February’s largest trades for MORN. JP Morgan Chase rounded out the rankings.
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The Washington Service Research Team