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One of the best ways to begin researching a company’s financial health and history is through corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reports filed most frequently by companies with the SEC include, annual and quarterly reports, insider transaction documents, IPO- related documents and other registration statements. 

The following provides a brief description of the most frequently filed documents with the SEC (for a full description visit the agency’s description of SEC forms  ): 

Typical information provided in an annual or quarterly report includes, financial data, results from continuing operations, market segment information, new product plans, subsidiary activities and research and development activities on future programs. 

Insider transactions are among the most common corporate filings with the SEC. Every director officer or owner of more than a 10 percent stake in a company must disclose their holdings with the SEC. These filings are made on Forms 3, 4 and 5.

Registration statements filed most often by companies include S-1 and S-3 documents. An S-1 is a basic registration form filed when a company’s planning an IPO. After a company has been publicly traded for a year, any subsequent plan to offer securities, which may include common stock, preferred shares or debt securities, must be filed through an S-3 registration statement. 

Visit MarketWatch.com’s column, which provides daily coverage of the latest in SEC Filings. Also, visit the SEC’s free online database of filings, EDGAR.

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