The 9-Million-Point Mirror: A Longitudinal Study of Form 4 Filings
Following the Data Engineering journey, a massive treasure trove of information has been gathered—a dataset comprising 9,201,642 distinct observations captured between 2003 and 2025. This collection is purposefully refined to focus on Form 4 filings only. By zooming in on this single form, the story follows the “Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership”—the primary way to see exactly when the people who know a company best choose to buy or sell its stock.
The Scale of the Inquiry: This vast sea of information allows the study to look through four unique windows:
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52,743 Unique Owners: These are the individual leaders, including company bosses and Board Directors, who hold special “inside” knowledge. By using the CIK as a digital fingerprint, the journey follows these leaders over many years to see if they get better at following rules or if they hit a “ceiling” that stops their progress.
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86,668 Unique Companies: These are the homes where all this trading happens. Some of these companies act like busy town squares, or “hubs,” where many leaders are busy making trades all at once.
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6,047,340 Individual Trades: By focusing on these millions of personal actions, the study can feel the “frictions” and hurdles that single humans face every day when trying to meet strict deadlines.
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3,154,302 Institutional Trades: These are the moves made by big, professional offices. Comparing them to individual trades shows a surprising truth: even the “Giants” with the most expensive tools struggle with the same rules as the “Individuals”.
Why Every Form 4 Matters: By sticking to just one type of form, the study ensures that the Compliance Plateau is measured fairly for everyone. This precision proves something very important: even after millions of tries over 22 years, the human world hasn’t quite managed to break through the “reporting ceiling” on its own.