How the plans work
The insider adopts the plan at a time when they don't have material non-public information. After that, a broker carries out the trades automatically, for example selling a fixed number of shares each month. Most executives who regularly sell stock do it this way.
What changed in 2023
SEC amendments that took effect in 2023 added a cooling-off period before trades can start under a new plan (at least 90 days for directors and officers in most cases), limited overlapping plans, and added a checkbox to Form 4 showing whether a trade was made under a 10b5-1 plan.
What it means for investors
A sale under a plan was usually decided months earlier, so it says little about the insider's current view. Sales outside a plan, especially by several senior executives at once, are more discretionary. InsiderPrint marks planned sales with a Plan tag wherever the filing shows it.