Insider Data from Thomson Reuters Ownership Data

Use Thomson Reuters Ownership Database in WRDS. 

Please note: Thomson Reuters Ownership data (formerly called Spectrum) is not a clean set of data. This is mostly due to reporting inconsistencies with the SEC documents from which the data is pulled. Also, this is a database of transactions (buying and selling of stock) so it is meant to be a record of changes in position, not a snapshot by quarter.

Choose Database

• Select Thomson Reuters

• Under Insiders Data on left select Table 1. Stock Transactions

Step One: Date Range

• Set Beginning Date month and year

• Set Ending Date month and year

Step Two: Search

• Set code format to CUSIP6

• Click Code lookup under Manually enter insider codes; a new window will open

• Type company name, e.g. General Electric, into search box; click Starts with

• Copy and paste the company's CUSIP6 back into the Company Codes box on the main WRDS search page

• Enter multiple codes by leaving a single space between them

• Change All Records drop down box to Exclude Problematic Records

• Leave all other boxes in this step as is

Step Three: Variables

• In Insider Information check Owner Full Name & Role Code 1

• In Company Information check Company Name & CUSIP Issuer (6 chars)

• In Transaction Information check Ownership Type, Resulted Shares Held, Resulted Shares Held Adjusted and Security Title

• Leave all other boxes in this step as is

Step Four: Output

• Choose Tab-delimited text (*.txt) format

• Leave all other boxes in this step as is

• Click Submit Query

• Data Request Summary window will open

• Right mouse click on the highlighted file name

• Choose Save Target As option

• Save as a .txt file to your computer

• Open file in Excel