Marta Benson, President Pottery Barn Brand at Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM), made a large insider sell on October 7, according to a new SEC filing.

What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday showed that Benson sold 2,918 shares of Williams-Sonoma at prices ranging from ($0.00) to $172.08. The total transaction amounted to $481,480.

Benson still owns a total of 26,749 shares of Williams-Sonoma worth, $4,600,293.

Williams-Sonoma shares are trading up 0.56% at $171.98 at the time of this writing on Monday afternoon.

Why Insider Transactions Are Important

Insider transactions shouldn't be used primarily to make an investing decision, however, they can be an important factor for an investor to consider.

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

Check Out The Full List Of Williams-Sonoma's Insider Trades.