The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have now compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveiled their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the latest smart money sentiment towards Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX).
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was in 45 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 50 hedge funds in our database with Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) to other stocks, including Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX)
Follow Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX)
In the financial world, there are several gauges stock market investors can use to size up their stock investments. A pair of the best gauges are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the market by a solid amount (see the details here).
Now, we’re going to take a gander at the fresh action regarding Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX).
How have hedgies been trading Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)?
At the end of Q3, a total of 45 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a drop of 10% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, D E Shaw has the biggest position in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), worth close to $304.2 million, comprising 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second-most bullish fund manager is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $230.6 million position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish contain Ken Fisher’s mutual fund, Fisher Asset Management, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Since Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there exists a select few funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $117.1 million in stock. Legg Mason Capital Management, now a part of ClearBridge, also sold off its stock, about $87.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds in the third quarter.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) but similarly valued. These stocks are Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). All of these stocks’ market caps match Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HD | 69 | 3936521 | 2 |
| HSBC | 15 | 539534 | 0 |
| BABA | 60 | 3786596 | -25 |
| GILD | 90 | 4762780 | 6 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 59 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3.26 billion. That figure was $1.73 billion in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s case. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average and falling, while the amount of capital invested in the stock is also below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.
