Apify Public Data & Leads

SEC Form 4 Insider Transactions

sec_form_4_insider_transactions

Read-only

Retrieve insider buys, sales, grants, exercises, and derivatives from SEC Form 4/4A by ticker or CIK, with owner roles, security details, share counts, prices, and post-transaction ownership.

Instructions

Export structured insider buys, sales, grants, exercises and derivative transactions from official SEC Form 4 and 4/A XML by ticker or CIK. Returns reporting-owner roles, security details, share counts, prices and post-transaction ownership.

Behavioral Transparency:

Execution: Network call executed synchronously in the cloud via Apify Actor 'captainhandsome/sec-form-4-insider-transactions'.
Side Effects: Reads public sources and creates a billed Actor run and dataset on your Apify account.
Authentication: Requires APIFY_TOKEN environment variable; the Actor publisher supplies the SEC contact identity.
Latency & Limits: Typical run duration is 10-90 seconds depending on max_filings; output is capped by max_results.

Usage Guidelines:

When to use: Use for insider-trading research, ownership-change monitoring and transaction-level Form 4 analysis.
When NOT to use: Do not use for 10-K, 10-Q or 8-K filings (use 'sec_edgar_filings') or campaign-finance data (use 'fec_campaign_finance_search').
Named alternatives: Use 'sec_edgar_filings' for company filings and exhibits, or 'fec_campaign_finance_search' for US political contributions and committees.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`company`	Yes	Public-company ticker or 1-10 digit SEC CIK.
`date_to`	No	Inclusive filing end date, YYYY-MM-DD.
`date_from`	No	Inclusive filing start date, YYYY-MM-DD.
`max_filings`	No	Maximum ownership XML filings to inspect.
`max_results`	No	Maximum transaction rows to return.
`transaction_codes`	No	Exact SEC transaction codes such as P, S, A, M or G.
`include_amendments`	No	Include amended Form 4/A filings.
`include_derivative`	No	Include derivative securities such as options.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`run`	No
`error`	No
`status`	Yes
`results`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Addedv1.2.0Sep 15, 2026
Removedv1.1.0Sep 15, 2026
Addedv1.0.13Sep 14, 2026

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Beyond the annotations (readOnlyHint=true, destructiveHint=false), the description discloses the synchronous network execution via a specific Apify Actor, the side effect of creating a billed Actor run/dataset, the APIFY_TOKEN authentication requirement, and expected latency. This is rich, non-obvious behavioral context that annotations alone would not convey.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness5/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The description is well-organized into clear sections with bullet-pointed behavioral and usage guidance. Every sentence carries useful information, and the core purpose is front-loaded before the supplementary details.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

Given the presence of an output schema, the description need not explain return values, and it still covers execution, side effects, authentication, latency, limits, and usage boundaries. This is more than sufficient for an agent to invoke the tool correctly.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters3/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Input schema coverage is 100%, with each parameter already documented. The description adds no per-parameter semantic detail beyond what the schema provides, though it does mention the company input can be a ticker or CIK. At high schema coverage, this meets the baseline but does not exceed it.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description begins with a specific verb ('Export') and resource ('structured insider buys, sales, grants, exercises and derivative transactions from official SEC Form 4 and 4/A XML'), immediately distinguishing this from generic EDGAR or financial-data tools. It also names explicit alternatives in the Usage Guidelines, so an agent can differentiate it from siblings like sec_edgar_filings and fec_campaign_finance_search without opening schemas.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

The description provides explicit 'When to use' and 'When NOT to use' guidance, including named alternative tools ('sec_edgar_filings' for 10-K/10-Q/8-K, 'fec_campaign_finance_search' for campaign finance). This leaves no ambiguity about selection criteria.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

Deploy Server