A Form 4 reports an insider's purchase or sale within two business days.
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.
Check your understanding
Why is an insider's open-market purchase generally considered a stronger signal than an insider's sale?
Insiders sell for many personal reasons (taxes, diversification, 10b5-1 plans) that say little about the outlook, whereas an open-market buy puts their own money behind a confidence signal.