According to a 13D filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners reported ownership of almost 6.5 million shares of Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS), including options to acquire one million shares. In this way, at the current price of the company’s stock, the value of the firm’s stake in Oil States International amounts to $609.6 million (including the option contracts). Rosenstein is one of the investors who is bullish on Oil States International; see the full list here. When Rosenstein first purchased about 5 million shares of the company in April, the stock of Oil States jumped 15% amid the news.
At the moment, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to watch stocks. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, let’s examine the newest info surrounding Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS).
Hedge fund activity in Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS)
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 35 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 75% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners had the largest position in Oil States International. On JANA Partners’s heels is Greenlight Capital, managed by David Einhorn, which held a $250.1 million position; 4.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Alexander Roepers’s Atlantic Investment Management and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.
As aggregate interest spiked, certain bigger names have been driving this bullishness. David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital also made a $250.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new OIS investors: Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Alexander Roepers’s Atlantic Investment Management, and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.
Insider trading activity in Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS)
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS). These stocks are Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB), RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES), Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE:DRQ), Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:SPN), and MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps are similar to OIS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE:DRQ) | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:SPN) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results shown by the previously mentioned research, average investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS) is no exception.
