President at Equity Bancshares Acquires Company Stock Options Worth 56,370 Shares

Richard Sems, President at Equity Bancshares EQBK, reported a large acquisition of company stock options on May 17, according to a new SEC filing.

What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday showed that Sems, President at Equity Bancshares, a company in the Financials sector, was just awarded stock options worth 56,370 shares of EQBK. The options give Sems the right to buy the company's stock at $21.84 per share.

Equity Bancshares shares are trading up 2.48% at $21.49 at the time of this writing on Wednesday morning. Since the current price is $21.49, this makes Sems's 56,370 shares worth $1,211,391.

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The Importance of Insider Transactions

Insider transactions shouldn't be used primarily to make an investing decision, however an insider transaction can be an important factor in the investing decision.

In legal terms, an "insider" refers to any shareholder who owns at least 10% of a company. This can include executives in the c-suite and large hedge funds. These insiders are required to let the public know of their transactions via a Form 4 filing, which must be filed within two business days of the transaction.

When a company insider makes a new purchase, that is an indication that they expect the stock to rise.

Insider sells, on the other hand, can be made for a variety of reasons, and may not necessarily mean that the seller thinks the stock will go down.

Important Transaction Codes

Investors prefer focusing on transactions that take place in the open market, indicated in Table I of the Form 4 filing. A P in Box 3 indicates a purchase, while S indicates a sale. Transaction code C indicates the conversion of an option, and transaction code A indicates the insider may have been forced to sell shares in order to receive compensation that had been promised upon being hired by the company.

Check Out The Full List Of Equity Bancshares's Insider Trades.

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.