Who is buying?
Role seniority, buying frequency, and whether this insider's past purchases have been followed by positive price movement.
How it works
We monitor every insider trade filed with the SEC, score it against over a decade of historical data, and deliver the short list: the trades that have historically mattered most.
Every SEC Form 4 filing
Ranked against 10+ years of data
Daily digest + instant alerts
When an insider spends their own money to buy shares in their company, that's the clearest expression of conviction. We track other transaction types (sales, grants, options exercises), but we only score purchases. That's about 15% of all SEC insider filings. The other 85% is noise we filter out before you see it.
Role seniority, buying frequency, and whether this insider's past purchases have been followed by positive price movement.
Recent price action, how far the stock is from recent highs, and the overall trend. Buying after a drop can signal conviction.
Trade size relative to the insider's holdings, and whether other insiders at the same company are buying around the same time.
Not all high-ranking trades are equal. Two trades can rank similarly on our model but have very different track records behind them. After analysing over a decade of outcomes, two factors consistently predict which trades go on to produce the strongest returns:
These two factors, combined with the overall model ranking, determine the tier.
The rarest signals. A proven insider buying into a deep price pullback. Historically, about 69% of these trades gained 30% or more within three months, with a typical (median) return of 47%.
Clear conviction. A proven insider buying into a moderate pullback. Historically hit 30%+ returns about 63% of the time, with a median return of 36%.
Above-average signals from proven insiders, but without a significant pullback at the time of purchase. About 48% have hit 30%+ returns, with a median return of 29%.
Routine insider activity. The insider doesn’t have a strong enough track record, or the overall signal isn’t strong enough to qualify for the top tiers.
The weakest signals: the model sees very little positive signal in the trade.
The model updates continuously as new trades come in, so tier thresholds reflect current market conditions, not a fixed historical benchmark.
Each signal comes with a full breakdown: the tier label, what drove the ranking, and historical stats for trades with similar characteristics. No black box: you can see exactly why a trade ranked high, and click through to the original SEC filing to verify it yourself.
We backtested our model across over a decade of insider trading data to answer a simple question: if you'd followed the short list, would it have been worth it?
How we tested it:
Starting with $10,000, we simulated investing $100 into every Elite and Strong signal from 2015 to 2026 — entering at the filing-date price and exiting after 3 months. We ran the same dollar amounts into the S&P 500 on the same dates as a benchmark.
The strategy grew to $283k. The S&P 500 reached $38k. That's over 7× the S&P 500.
Strategy (Elite + Strong)
$283k
S&P 500 (same timing)
$38k
This is a historical backtest, not a real portfolio. It assumes you could buy at the filing-date price, doesn't account for trading fees or taxes, and uses a fixed 3-month exit regardless of what happens to the stock. Real-world results would differ based on execution, timing, position sizing, and market conditions.
Historical backtest, not a real portfolio. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
All insider trading data comes from SEC EDGAR, the US Securities and Exchange Commission's public filing system. Every Form 4 is downloaded, parsed, and ranked automatically. Every signal in InsiderSignals links directly to the original SEC filing. You can always verify the underlying data yourself.