Does Analyst Stock Ownership Affect Reporting Behavior?

Rick M. Johnston
2009 Social Science Research Network  
An analyst who owns stock in the company she covers may be tempted to protect or enhance her personal interests. I examine how this conflict of interest affects the reporting of sell-side analysts. I identify and collect two samples. I obtain the first from SEC Form 144 filings, and the second from voluntary ownership disclosures. Ordered probit analyses show that owninganalyst recommendations are slightly more cautious than those of the control analysts. I find no robust evidence that stock
more » ... ership is associated with optimistic analyst reporting.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.944786 fatcat:m5tph2oztnfkhlffqhpipxctoe