Benzinga | Sep 18, 2020 11:18AM EDT

Insider Buys Tejon Ranch's Shares

Towerview Llc filed a Form 4 with the SEC on Friday, September 18. The insider bought 300 shares of Tejon Ranch Inc (NYSE:TRC) at an average price of $13.58. After the transaction, the executive's stake in Tejon Ranch Inc. moved to 3,767,800 shares. Tejon Ranch was trading 1.3% higher from the previous closing price.

The Importance of Insider Transactions

While transactions from an insider shouldn't be used as the sole item to make an investment or trading decision, an insider buying or selling stock in their company can be a good added factor that leads to more conviction in a decision.

When an insider buys stock after an important sell off, that can indicate the insider's faith in the success of the organization. Henceforth, if the stock is bought at new highs, it might be because the insider feels that the stock is not overvalued. Insiders who sell stock at new lows could be anticipating some capitulation moment. If the insider sells at new highs, it could point to the intention to "take some profit" and "lock in a gain."

Important Transaction Codes

Investors prefer focusing on transactions which take place in the open market, indicated in the Form 4 with codes P for purchase and S for sale. If the transaction was an open-market transaction, that means that the insider made a concious decision for the company's stock moving forward.

Transaction codes besides P or S aren't relatively important as they are seldom tied to a decision by the executive. For example, transaction code A is indicative of an insider being forced to sell shares to attain compensation. Moreover, transaction code C indicates the conversion of an option.