What is an SEC Form 144?
Form 144 is a notice that a company insider plans to sell shares. It is filed when the sell order is placed, so it announces a planned sale and does not prove that the sale took place.
Last reviewed October 5, 2026
Who has to file one
Insiders and large holders, called affiliates, who sell restricted or control shares under Rule 144. A notice is required when the sale is more than 5,000 shares or more than $50,000 in any three-month period.
When it is filed
At the same time as the sell order is given to the broker. That is why it comes before the sale, unlike a Form 4, which comes after. Since April 2023 it is filed electronically on EDGAR, so it can be read the same day.
What it shows
- The seller, their relationship to the company and the company's name
- How many shares are to be sold and their approximate market value
- The approximate date of the sale and the broker
- What the person has already sold in the past three months
How to read it
A planned sale may be completed in parts, later than stated, or not at all. When it is completed, the sale shows up in a Form 4 within two business days. The Form 144 is the early warning and the Form 4 is the result.
Many planned sales follow a trading plan set up long before, so they say little about what the seller thinks today.
What OQRO does with it
OQRO shows these as planned sales, kept apart from completed sales so the two are never mixed up, and links each one to the notice on sec.gov.
See it on OQRO
Sources
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This explains a public filing in plain words. It is not legal or investment advice.