10% owner
A person or entity that owns more than 10% of a public company's stock.
Large holders can be Section 16 reporters, which means their ownership changes may need to be reported on SEC forms.
Insider trading terms, in plain English.
A simple dictionary for the words that show up in SEC Form 4 filings, Blue Collar Picks feed rows, tooltips, and research pages. Browse 57 plain-English definitions when a label is unfamiliar or a filing term needs a quick translation.
Dictionary
Common SEC Form 4 and feed terms
Short definitions first. Deeper lessons are linked where they already exist.
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10b5-1 plan
A pre-arranged trading plan an insider sets up before the trade happens.
A sale under a 10b5-1 plan may be scheduled rather than reactive. That context matters when reading insider sales.
What is a 10b5-1 plan →A
Accession number
The unique filing number the SEC assigns to an EDGAR submission.
Use it to find the exact source filing when you want to verify a row against the original SEC document.
B
Beneficial owner
A person or entity that has ownership interest or control over shares.
Beneficial ownership can include shares held directly and shares held through another account, trust, partnership, or related entity.
Buyback
When a company repurchases its own shares.
A company buyback is different from an insider purchase. Blue Collar Picks focuses on insiders buying or selling, not corporate repurchase programs.
C
CEO or CFO purchase
An insider purchase made by a company's chief executive or chief financial officer.
These roles can matter because they are close to company operations and financial performance.
CIK
The Central Index Key the SEC uses to identify a filer.
Companies, insiders, funds, and other filers can have CIKs in EDGAR.
Cluster buying
Multiple insiders buying the same company's stock inside a short window.
A cluster can be more useful than one isolated buy because several insiders made similar decisions around the same time.
What is cluster buying →Cluster length
The number of days between the first and latest purchase in a cluster.
Shorter windows with several insiders are usually easier to interpret than loose activity spread across a long period.
What is cluster buying →Common stock
The regular equity shares of a company.
Most insider purchases in the feed involve common stock, but SEC filings can also report options, restricted stock units, and other securities.
D
Derivative security
A security whose value is tied to another security.
Stock options and some rights are derivative securities. They can matter, but they are not the same as buying common stock in the open market.
Direct ownership
Shares the insider personally owns.
Direct ownership can be easier to read than indirect ownership because the shares are held in the insider's own name.
Director
A member of a company's board.
Directors often have to report transactions because they are company insiders under Section 16.
Disposition
A decrease in reported ownership.
A disposition can be a sale, transfer, tax withholding transaction, gift, or another event that reduces reported holdings.
E
EDGAR
The SEC database where public company filings are posted.
Blue Collar Picks links back to EDGAR because the original SEC filing is the source of truth.
EDGAR filing
A public filing submitted through the SEC's EDGAR system.
Blue Collar Picks links back to SEC filings so readers can check the source record.
Exercise
When an insider uses an option or right to acquire shares.
An option exercise is not always the same signal as an open-market purchase because the insider may be acting on earlier compensation terms.
F
Filing date
The date the SEC filing was submitted.
This can differ from the trade date. Blue Collar Picks shows filing date because it tells you when the market learned about the transaction.
Filing delay
The number of days between the trade date and the SEC filing date.
Form 4 is generally due within two business days. A long delay may be worth checking against the original filing.
Footnote
Extra filing text that explains a transaction or ownership detail.
Footnotes can clarify indirect ownership, 10b5-1 plans, option terms, gifts, and other details that are not obvious from the table row.
Form 3
The SEC form insiders use to report their initial ownership.
Form 3 often appears when someone becomes an officer, director, or 10% owner.
Form 5
The SEC form used for certain annual insider ownership reports.
It can cover transactions or holdings that were not reported earlier on Form 4.
G
Grant
Stock or options awarded to an insider, often as compensation.
Grants are different from open-market purchases because the insider usually did not buy the shares with their own cash.
I
Indirect ownership
Shares attributed to the insider but held through another person or entity.
This can include a spouse, trust, LLC, partnership, or other structure disclosed in the filing footnotes.
Insider
A person with a reporting relationship to the company, such as an officer, director, or large holder.
In SEC Form 4 context, insider does not mean illegal trading. It means the person has a public reporting obligation.
Insider sale
A reported transaction where an insider sells or disposes of shares.
Sales can happen for many reasons, including taxes, diversification, scheduled plans, or personal liquidity.
Issuer
The public company whose securities are being reported.
In the feed, this is usually the company tied to the ticker shown on the row.
Issuer CIK
The SEC identifier for the company named in the filing.
The issuer CIK helps match a filing to the correct public company.
M
Market cap
The total market value of a company's stock.
Market cap can help you understand whether a trade is happening at a small, mid-size, or large company.
N
Non-derivative transaction
A transaction in the actual shares rather than an option or similar instrument.
Open-market purchases of common stock usually appear as non-derivative transactions.
O
Officer
A senior company leader, such as a CEO, CFO, president, or other executive.
Officers are often Section 16 reporters and may have to file Form 4 when their ownership changes.
Open-market purchase
A stock purchase an insider made in the market with their own money.
Blue Collar Picks treats open-market P-code purchases as higher context than grants, awards, or tax-related transactions.
Option exercise
Using a stock option to acquire shares at the option price.
An option exercise can increase shares owned, but it is not the same as choosing to buy stock in the open market.
Owned after
The share count the insider reports owning after the transaction.
Compare this number with the shares bought or sold to understand whether the trade was small or meaningful relative to the insider's position.
P
P code
The SEC transaction code for a purchase.
Blue Collar Picks gives special attention to P-code rows because they often represent insiders buying shares.
Planned sale
A sale that appears tied to a pre-arranged trading plan.
Planned sales can be less useful as a signal because the insider may have set the sale schedule earlier.
Price per share
The reported transaction price for each share.
The filing may show a single price or a weighted average price when several trades were grouped together.
Purchase
A transaction where an insider buys or acquires shares.
The strongest purchase signals are usually open-market purchases made with the insider's own money.
Q
Qualified Buy
A Blue Collar Picks label for an insider purchase that passed basic signal filters.
It is not investment advice. It means the row looks like a real purchase worth reviewing, not routine filing noise.
What Qualified Buy means →R
Reporting owner
The insider or holder named on a Form 4 filing.
A filing can include one reporting owner or several reporting owners. Blue Collar Picks separates the rows so the table is easier to read.
Restricted stock unit
A company stock award that usually vests over time.
Restricted stock units can increase ownership, but they are usually compensation, not an open-market buy.
Rule 144
An SEC rule that can apply when restricted or control securities are sold.
A Form 4 sale may reference Rule 144 when the transaction involves restricted or control stock.
S
S code
The SEC transaction code for a sale.
S-code rows are common in Form 4 filings. They can reflect planned sales, ordinary diversification, tax activity, or other selling.
Sale
A transaction where an insider sells shares.
Insider sales need more context than purchases because people sell for many reasons.
SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC collects and publishes company filings, including insider ownership reports.
SEC Form 4
The public SEC filing insiders use to report changes in company stock ownership.
Officers, directors, and 10% holders generally file Form 4 after buying, selling, receiving, or disposing of company shares.
Read the Form 4 lesson →Section 16 reporter
A company insider who has to report stock ownership changes to the SEC.
This usually means officers, directors, and beneficial owners of more than 10% of a public company.
Security title
The type of security reported in the filing.
Examples include common stock, stock options, restricted stock units, or other equity-linked securities.
Shares
Units of company ownership.
Form 4 filings report how many shares were bought, sold, granted, withheld, or owned after a transaction.
Stock award
Shares or stock-based compensation granted to an insider.
Awards can matter for ownership, but they should not be confused with an insider deciding to buy shares in the market.
Stock option
The right to buy shares at a set price.
Options are common executive compensation. Exercising an option can create a Form 4 transaction.
T
Ticker
The short stock symbol used to identify a public company.
Blue Collar Picks uses tickers to help readers scan filings quickly, but the SEC filing remains the source of truth.
Trade date
The date the reported transaction happened.
This can be earlier than the filing date because Form 4 is filed after the trade occurs.
Trade value
The estimated dollar value of the transaction.
Blue Collar Picks usually calculates this from reported shares and price. If an SEC filing is unclear, the original filing is the source of truth.
Transaction code
The SEC code that describes what happened in a Form 4 row.
The most common codes are P for purchase, S for sale, A for grant, F for tax withholding, and M for option exercise.
Open the transaction code guide →Transaction date
Another name for the date the reported transaction occurred.
Compare transaction date with filing date to understand filing delay.
V
Vesting
When a stock award or option becomes available to the insider.
Vesting can trigger filings even when the insider did not make a fresh open-market buying decision.