Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love The Dow Chemical Company (DOW)?

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to track their holdings. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace the market by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. There are plenty of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a look at the latest action encompassing The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW).

What have hedge funds been doing with The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 21% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group had the largest call position in The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), worth close to $238.8 million, comprising 2.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $56.4 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and John Burbank’s Passport Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Senator Investment Group, managed by Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin, assembled the largest call position in The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW). Senator Investment Group had 238.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Burbank’s Passport Capital also initiated a $31.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

How are insiders trading The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW). These stocks are FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC), Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN), Sociedad Quimica y Minera (ADR) (NYSE:SQM), Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD), and E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD). This group of stocks belong to the chemicals – major diversified industry and their market caps resemble DOW’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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