Track stocks insiders are buying right now, executive purchases, and Form 4 filings. Insider conviction picks for self-directed US investors.
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When a CEO, CFO, or director buys their own company's stock with personal money, they are signaling something the market may not yet see. Insider buying has historically outperformed the broader market by meaningful margins, particularly when multiple insiders cluster their purchases within a short window. Academic research dating to the 1990s has documented insider-buying outperformance of 5% to 15% annually relative to broad market benchmarks.
This is the trade behind "follow the money," and the SEC's required Form 4 filings make the data publicly available within two business days of every transaction.
In the public-markets context, "insider trading" refers to trading by corporate officers, directors, and significant shareholders (10%+ owners) of a public company. These trades are legal as long as they are not based on material non-public information and are properly disclosed via SEC Form 4 filings within two business days. The illegal version of insider trading involves trading on material non-public information regardless of who is doing the trading.
VonTrend's Insider Trades category covers the legal version: tracking what corporate insiders are buying and selling through public Form 4 disclosures and what those trades signal about underlying business conditions.
There are five main approaches.
Cluster buy detection identifies companies where three or more insiders are buying within a short window (typically 30 days). Cluster buys historically produce the strongest forward returns.
Senior executive buying weighs purchases by job title. CEO and CFO purchases tend to predict forward stock performance better than purchases by lower-level officers or independent directors.
Size and percentage of holdings matters. A $50,000 purchase by an executive earning $30 million per year may signal less than a $50,000 purchase that materially increases an executive's stake in the company.
Sector concentration identifies industries where insider buying is broadly elevated. This often signals sector-level value before broader market recognition.
Insider selling alerts identify outsized selling that may signal looming earnings disappointments or other concerns. Heavy executive selling has historically preceded meaningful drops.
Selling is noisier than buying. Insiders sell for many reasons (diversification, taxes, lifestyle), so insider selling alone is a weaker signal than insider buying.
Stock options exercises are not buying. Form 4 filings include both open-market purchases and stock-option exercises. The strongest signal is the former, not the latter.
Rule 10b5-1 plans are pre-scheduled. Some insider trades are executed under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans that specify trades months in advance. These plans are noted on Form 4 filings.
Lookback windows matter. Insider buying signals are strongest within 60 to 90 days. Older filings have less predictive power.
SEC EDGAR: the official source for all Form 4 filings, available within two business days of each trade.
OpenInsider: a free aggregator that ranks insider buying clusters and recent filings.
Quiver Quantitative: tracks insider trades alongside congressional and other smart-money data.
MarketBeat Insider Trades: aggregated insider buying data with company-specific summaries.
Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and other paid APIs: institutional-quality insider data feeds.
What stocks are insiders buying right now?
Insider buying activity changes daily as new Form 4 filings arrive at the SEC. The most actively bought stocks vary by week, but consistently strong cluster-buying signals tend to appear in small-cap and mid-cap names where insider stakes are larger relative to company size. VonTrend tracks the most significant cluster buys in the Stocks Insiders Are Buying watchlist.
What is a Form 4 filing?
Form 4 is the SEC filing every corporate insider must submit within two business days of any transaction in their company's stock. The filing discloses the transaction date, share quantity, transaction price, transaction type (purchase, sale, option exercise, gift), and resulting ownership level. Form 4 filings are public on SEC EDGAR.
Are insider buying signals reliable?
Insider buying has historically outperformed broad market benchmarks, especially when multiple insiders buy in a short window. Academic studies have documented 5% to 15% annual outperformance for insider-buying portfolios compared to broad market indexes. Reliability is highest for cluster buys by senior executives in small and mid-cap names.
What is a cluster buy?
A cluster buy occurs when three or more insiders at the same company buy their company's stock within a short window, typically 30 days. Cluster buys are widely considered the strongest insider-buying signal because coordinated purchases by multiple insiders are unlikely to be coincidence. Cluster buys often precede positive earnings surprises or fundamental improvement.
Can I follow insider trades for free?
Yes. SEC EDGAR provides free access to all Form 4 filings within two business days of each trade. Free aggregators like OpenInsider organize and rank insider trades. Paid services offer faster alerts, more detailed analytics, and insider-trading screens. VonTrend's Insider Trades coverage filters the daily noise to surface the trades worth watching.
Insider buying is one of the longest-documented sources of edge in public equity markets. Coverage focuses on US public-company insider activity meaningful enough for self-directed retail investors to act on. We filter the noise and surface the signal. For specific picks, see our Stocks Insiders Are Buying watchlist.