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Ownership & smart money

Form 4 (Insider Transaction) Form 4

A US filing that company insiders must submit to report their own purchases or sales of the company's stock.

Part of the Filings, Ownership & Smart Money course · Lesson 8 of 11

What it is

Form 4 is a report that company insiders, officers, directors, and 10%-or-greater owners, file with the SEC to disclose changes in their ownership of the company's securities. It records buys, sells, option exercises, and grants, including the date, number of shares, and price. It must be filed within two business days of the transaction, making it one of the more timely insider-ownership signals.

Why it matters

Form 4 buying, especially open-market purchases with an insider's own cash, is often watched as a confidence signal because insiders know the business best. The key pitfall is interpreting sales: insiders sell for many reasons unrelated to outlook (taxes, diversification, pre-set 10b5-1 plans), so a sale is far weaker evidence than a buy. Always check whether a trade was an open-market action or a routine grant or plan-based transaction.

How it's calculated

It is a regulatory disclosure form, not a computed metric; it itemizes each reportable insider transaction with its date, share count, and price.

How Quintarthai uses it

Form 4 and SEDI insider transactions populate Quinn's insider tracker, each linked to a provenance receipt back to the original filing; review them on a company's deep-analysis page.

Cross-border note. Form 4 is the US (SEC) mechanism; Canadian insiders report equivalent trades through SEDI, and Quintarthai covers both so insider activity on TSX names is not paywalled.

FAQ

How fast must a Form 4 be filed?
Within two business days of the transaction, which makes it one of the timelier insider signals compared with quarterly institutional filings.
Is insider selling a bad sign?
Not on its own. Insiders sell for many personal reasons such as taxes, diversification, or pre-scheduled 10b5-1 plans, so open-market buying is a stronger signal than selling.
Related terms
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