SEC Form 4 is one of the most valuable sources of information for investors tracking corporate insider activity. When executives, directors, or major shareholders buy or sell stock in their own company, they’re required to disclose it—and Form 4 is how they do it.

What is SEC Form 4?

SEC Form 4, officially titled “Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership,” is a document that must be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whenever a company insider makes a transaction in their company’s stock.

Who must file Form 4:

Officers (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.)
Directors (board members)
Beneficial owners of more than 10% of a company’s shares

Filing deadline: Within two business days of the transaction

Why Form 4 Matters to Investors

Insider transactions can signal confidence—or concern—about a company’s future:

Transaction Type	Potential Signal
Cluster buying (multiple insiders)	Strong bullish conviction
CEO/CFO purchases	Leadership confidence
Large open-market purchases	Insider sees undervaluation
Insider selling after price run-up	Profit-taking (less meaningful)
Unusual selling before earnings	Potential red flag

The Asymmetry of Information

Insiders sell for many reasons (diversification, taxes, personal expenses), but they typically only buy for one reason: they believe the stock will go up. This asymmetry makes insider purchases particularly noteworthy.

How to Read a Form 4

Key fields in a Form 4 filing:

Field	Description
Reporting Person	Name and relationship to company
Transaction Date	When the trade occurred
Transaction Code	P (Purchase), S (Sale), A (Grant), etc.
Shares	Number of shares transacted
Price	Price per share
Shares Owned After	Total beneficial ownership

Transaction Codes Explained

P – Open market purchase (most significant for investors)
S – Open market sale
A – Grant or award (stock compensation)
M – Exercise of options
G – Gift
F – Tax withholding (automatic sale for taxes)

Open market purchases (P) are the most meaningful since they represent an insider voluntarily spending their own money.

Using Insider Data in Your Analysis

Historical insider transaction data helps you:

Identify accumulation patterns – Multiple insiders buying over time
Spot conviction signals – Large purchases relative to salary
Track C-suite activity – Focus on CEO, CFO, and board purchases
Build quantitative signals – Backtest insider-based strategies

Accessing Insider Transaction Data

You can access historical SEC Form 4 data for thousands of tickers through the FinBrain API:

from finbrain import FinBrainClient

fb = FinBrainClient(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# Get insider transactions as DataFrame
df = fb.insider_transactions.ticker("S&P 500", "AAPL", as_dataframe=True)

print(df.head())
#                 insiderTradings              relationship  transaction  shares    cost     USDValue
# date
# 2024-01-15         Tim Cook     Chief Executive Officer        Sale   50000  185.50      9275000
# 2024-01-10       Luca Maestri    Chief Financial Officer        Sale   25000  188.25      4706250

# Filter for purchases only
purchases = df[df["transaction"].str.contains("Buy", na=False)]
print(f"Recent insider purchases: {len(purchases)}")

# Get purchases by C-suite executives
c_suite = ["Chief Executive", "Chief Financial", "Chief Operating", "President"]
c_suite_buys = purchases[purchases["relationship"].str.contains("|".join(c_suite), case=False, na=False)]
print(c_suite_buys[["insiderTradings", "shares", "USDValue"]])

Key Takeaways

SEC Form 4 is the mandatory disclosure for insider stock transactions
Insiders must file within two business days of any transaction
Open market purchases (code “P”) are the most meaningful signals
Cluster buying by multiple insiders is a strong bullish indicator
Historical data enables systematic analysis and backtesting

Want to track insider transactions programmatically? Check out the Insider Transactions Dataset and API Reference.

What is SEC Form 4? A Complete Guide to Insider Trading Filings