What Is a Form 4 Filing?
The SEC filing that discloses when a company insider buys or sells shares — usually within two business days of the trade.
What it means
Form 4 is the SEC filing that company officers, directors, and other Section 16 insiders must submit whenever they buy or sell shares of their own company, or when their holdings otherwise change (option grants, vesting, exercises). It has to be filed within two business days of the transaction, which makes it one of the fastest, most direct windows into what a company's own insiders are actually doing with their stock — not a summary or an estimate, but the transaction itself, reported by the person who made it.
How MarketWall calculates it
MarketWall reads Form 4 filings directly from SEC EDGAR — including each filer's SEC CIK, so a given person's transactions across different companies are correctly linked to one profile page rather than treated as separate, unconnected filers. See the Data Sources & Methodology page for how insider data is sourced.
How it's typically used
Not every Form 4 is equally meaningful. An open-market purchase (transaction code "P") is an insider voluntarily spending their own money — generally the most closely watched type. A sale (code "S") is far more ambiguous: insiders sell shares for all kinds of routine reasons (taxes, diversification, a pre-scheduled 10b5-1 plan) that have nothing to do with their view on the company. Grants, option exercises, and vesting events (codes "A", "M") show up on Form 4 too but aren't a discretionary buy or sell decision at all. Reading a Form 4 well means checking which transaction code it actually is before drawing any conclusion from it.
Live example right now
FAQ
How fast are Form 4 filings after the actual trade?
Insiders are required to file within two business days of the transaction.
Do all insider transactions require a Form 4?
Officers, directors, and beneficial owners of more than 10% of a company's shares (Section 16 insiders) must file one for changes in their holdings, including open-market trades, grants, and exercises.
Is a Form 4 sale always bearish?
No — see the is-insider-selling-a-red-flag glossary entry. Many sales are routine (taxes, pre-scheduled plans) and unrelated to an insider's view on the company.
See more signals in the interactive walkthrough, read the full Data Sources & Methodology page, or explore it live on a real chart — AAPL or BTC.