Molten Donald C Jr. filed a Form 4 with the SEC on Friday, August 21. The insider sold 200 shares of SIFCO Industries, Inc. (AMEX:SIF) at an average price of $4.10. After the transaction, the executive's stake in SIFCO Industries, Inc. Common Stock Inc. moved to 48,899 shares. SIFCO was trading flat in today's trade.

Why Insider Transactions Are Important?

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.

Important Transaction Codes

Wall Street tends to focus on insider transactions which take place in the open market, viewed inside a Form 4 filing via 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 other than P or S are often viewed with less conviction as they are often not tied to a decision by the exec. As an example, transaction code C indicates the conversion of an option. Transaction code A indicates the insider may have been forced to sell shares in order to receive compensation the exec was promised upon being hired by a company.