Plain-English guides to SEC insider transaction reporting. Each article links into the live InsiderAlpha database so you can apply what you learn to current filings.
SEC Form 4 is filed within 2 business days when corporate insiders — directors, officers, and 10% owners — buy or sell company stock. Learn how to read Form 4, what the transaction codes mean, and why insider buying is a signal.
Not all insider buys are equal. Learn which Form 4 purchases matter most: officer vs 10% owner buys, cluster buying, purchase size relative to pay, and how to filter Rule 10b5-1 plan trades from opportunistic conviction buys.
Rule 10b5-1 lets corporate insiders pre-schedule stock trades, providing a legal defense against insider-trading claims. Learn how the plans work, the 2023 SEC reforms, and why these trades carry less information than opportunistic purchases.
Cluster buying — multiple insiders purchasing the same stock within a short window — is one of the most predictive signals in the SEC Form 4 dataset. Learn what defines a cluster, the academic evidence, and how InsiderAlpha scores it.
SEC Form 4 reports completed insider transactions; Form 144 is a notice of intent to sell restricted or control stock. Learn how the two forms differ, why a Form 144 is not yet a sale, and how to use them together.
Insider buying is one of the few legal information edges available to outside investors — but only certain buys are bullish. Here is what the academic research shows, and when an insider purchase is (and isn't) a signal.
A 10% owner is any person or entity that beneficially owns more than 10% of a company's stock — making them a Section 16 insider who must file Form 4. Learn why their trades matter and how they differ from officer and director buys.
Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act governs how corporate insiders report trades (Forms 3, 4, 5) and disgorge short-swing profits. Learn who counts as a Section 16 insider and what each form means.
Insider selling is far noisier than insider buying — executives sell for taxes, diversification, and liquidity. Learn when a Form 4 sale is meaningful and when it is just calendar-driven noise.
Form 4 splits trades into non-derivative (Table I) and derivative (Table II) securities. Learn the difference between an open-market purchase, an option exercise, and an award — and which ones actually signal conviction.
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) has filed a Form S-1 to go public under the ticker SPCX. Here's what the SEC filing shows, what isn't disclosed yet, and how to follow the IPO.