Guide
What is a Form 4?
A Form 4 is the report a company's officer, director or owner of more than 10% files with the SEC when their holdings of the company's stock change, for example when they buy or sell shares, receive a grant or exercise options. It is due before the end of the second business day after the transaction.
Who must file
Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act covers a reporting company's directors and officers, and shareholders who own more than 10% of a class of its equity securities registered under the Exchange Act. The SEC's rules require these insiders to report most of their transactions in the company's equity securities within two business days, on Forms 3, 4 or 5 (SEC, Officers, Directors and 10% Shareholders).
The two business day deadline
General Instruction 1(a) of Form 4 says the form must be filed "before the end of the second business day following the day on which a transaction resulting in a change in beneficial ownership has been executed." A trade on a Monday is due by the end of Wednesday, when no holiday falls in between.
How to read Table I and Table II
Table I is titled "Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned". It holds the shares themselves, one line per transaction. Table II, "Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned", holds options, warrants, convertible securities and the like.
| 1. Title of Security | 2. Transaction DateMonth/Day/Year | 3. Transaction Code | 4. Amount | 4. (A) or (D)Acquired or disposed of | 4. Price | 5. Amount Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) | 6. Ownership FormDirect (D) or Indirect (I) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Stock | 10/21/2026 | P | 12,000 | A | $41.20 | 58,300 | D |
Read a line from left to right: on October 21, 2026 the filer bought (code P, acquired) 12,000 shares at $41.20 and held 58,300 shares directly afterward. Column 5 is what the filer owns after the transaction on that line.
The common transaction codes
Column 3 takes a code from the list in the form's instructions. These are the ones you will see most, in the SEC's words:
- POpen market or private purchase of non-derivative or derivative security
- SOpen market or private sale of non-derivative or derivative security
- AGrant, award or other acquisition pursuant to Rule 16b-3(d)
- MExercise or conversion of derivative security exempted pursuant to Rule 16b-3
- FPayment of exercise price or tax liability by delivering or withholding securities incident to the receipt, exercise or vesting of a security issued in accordance with Rule 16b-3
- GBona fide gift
Only P and S are purchases and sales on the open market or in a private deal, which is why our alerts put them first.
Where to find Form 4s
Every Form 4 is public on SEC EDGAR, where you can search by company or by the person who filed. Filing Ahoy watches EDGAR for you and emails you the Form 4s for the stocks on your watchlist.
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Not investment advice. Filing Ahoy reports what was filed; it does not tell you what to buy or sell. Filing Ahoy is not affiliated with the SEC.
Sources
Every rule on this page comes from these sec.gov pages, read on October 25, 2026.
- Form 4 and its General Instructions (PDF)
https://www.sec.gov/files/form4.pdf - Officers, Directors and 10% Shareholders
https://www.sec.gov/resources-small-businesses/going-public/officers-directors-10-shareholders