SEC EDGAR for Beginners: How to Find Insider, 13F and Fund Filings

A practical introduction to SEC EDGAR: searching companies and filers, filtering by form type, using full-text search and the free API, and the rules for automated access.

EDGAR is the SEC's free database of company and investor filings. Every Form 4, 13F and 13D/13G is there. It is not pretty, but it is the primary source.

The three searches you need

1. Company or person search. Enter a ticker or name on EDGAR's company search. You get a list of every filing, newest first. Use the form type filter ("4", "13F-HR", "SC 13D", "144") to narrow it.

2. Full-text search. EDGAR's full-text search covers filings from 2001 onward. Use it to find a phrase such as "10b5-1" across filings, or to find which companies mention a topic.

3. Latest filings. A live feed of what has just been filed, filterable by form type, useful to see new Form 4s as they arrive.

Reading what you find

• A filing has a main document (often HTML or XML) and exhibits.
• Form 4s are structured: you can open the human-readable page or the underlying XML.
• A 13F has an information table listing each position.
• Amendments carry an "/A" (for example 13F-HR/A). Use the latest.

For developers

The SEC offers free JSON endpoints at data.sec.gov, such as a company's submissions list. Bulk data sets are also published. Two rules matter:

• Declare who you are. Requests must include a descriptive User-Agent with a contact email.
• Stay under the fair-access limit of about 10 requests per second, or you will be blocked.

Pitfalls

1. Names and CIKs. Companies and people have numeric IDs (CIK). The same person can appear under variations of a name. Search by CIK when you can.
2. Tickers change. Match on the issuer's CIK, not only the ticker.
3. Volume. Form 4s arrive in bursts around earnings and vesting dates.
4. Format differences. Form 4 transaction codes live inside XML tables. Read what each code means.

Why aggregation helps

Doing this by hand for one company is fine. Doing it across thousands of companies, plus the separate House and Senate systems for congressional disclosures, is the part tools like Bourse take off your hands. See how to track all three.

Bourse provides financial data and editorial information, parts of which are generated by AI. This page is for general education only. It is not personalised investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument. Make your own decisions.