Transaction code
The one or two letter code on each row of a Form 4 that says what kind of change occurred.
Updated 2026-07-26
Every reported line carries a code. P marks an open market purchase, S a sale, A an award or grant, M an exercise or conversion, F shares withheld to cover tax, G a gift, and there are more. The code is the difference between events that look identical in a share count.
Reducing these to "buy" and "sell" destroys the distinction that makes the data worth publishing. A grant increases holdings without the insider spending anything; withholding for tax reduces holdings without a decision to sell; an exercise converts one instrument into another and is frequently paired with an immediate sale on the same filing.
On this site each row keeps its code, and derived categories are labelled with what they were derived from rather than presented as the filing's own words.
Related terms
5 entries- Equity grant
- Shares or units an insider receives as compensation, reported under transaction code A rather than as a purchase.
- Form 4
- The filing in which a company insider reports a change in their holdings, normally within two business days.
- Insider
- A person or entity whose relationship with a company obliges them to report their transactions in its securities.
- Open market purchase
- An insider buying shares on the market with their own money, reported under transaction code P.
- Option exercise
- Converting a derivative holding into shares, reported under transaction code M and often paired with a same-day sale.