Updated July 17, 2023
The trading activity by insiders of any company can be of interest to both investors and the public. This activity has the potential to be valuable information when deciding whether to invest in a company's stock or not.
Because the insiders of a company have access to non-public information about the company's operations, financial performance, or future plans, they have insights or access not readily available to the general public or regular shareholders.
Naturally, this advantage comes with strict legal obligations and restrictions to prevent the misuse of inside information. Although many insider trades are routine, history has shown that insider buying and selling of company stock has signaled that a significant event is about to happen that may cause a company’s stock to move significantly in the near future.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filing requirements to ensure investors and the public can access and review insider trading activities. This allows them to make more informed decisions based on potential conflicts of interest or signals about the company's prospects. It also helps the SEC monitor insider trading activity and enforce securities laws.
But if you wish to monitor this activity yourself, there are free and paid tools available for the expressed purpose of tracking the trading activity of company insiders.
Free/Freemium
- Open Insider - View insider transactions, including the insider’s name and title, as well as the price and quantity of the purchase/sale.
- Whale Wisdom - WhaleWisdom facilitates analysis and tracking of the portfolios of investment funds using 13-F filings.
- Dataroma - Screen for real-time insider transactions here. Dataroma also provides 13-F data and analysis for free, with ads.
- EDGAR - EDGAR provides insider trading information on each company’s landing page under the “Classic Version” of EDGAR (e.g., Tesla insider transactions and Elon Musk's transactions).
- FINVIZ - FINVIZ provides a feed of insider transactions.
Paid
- InsiderScore (Verity) - InsiderScore provides high-quality, human-reviewed data on insider transactions and more.
- BamSEC- BamSEC provides basic insider trading data.
Insider trading activity will always be of interest, even if most transactions are routine or part of a Rule 10b5-1 plan. Investors who wish to monitor the trading activity of company insiders have plenty of options for tools to conduct this part of their investment research.
