EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many indicators shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT).
Hedge fund activity in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 35 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 9% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors had the most valuable position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT), worth close to $288.7 million, accounting for 1.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is George Soros of Soros Fund Management, with a $209 million position; the fund has 2.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Duquesne Capital, managed by Stanley Druckenmiller, initiated the largest position in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT). Duquesne Capital had 22.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS also made a $12.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.
Insider trading activity in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) has seen 3 unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT). These stocks are Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG), AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS), Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE), Western Gas Equity Partners LP (NYSE:WGP), and ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE). This group of stocks are in the gas utilities industry and their market caps resemble EQT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE:GAS) | 12 | 0 | 4 |
| Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) | 15 | 0 | 8 |
| Western Gas Equity Partners LP (NYSE:WGP) | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) | 16 | 0 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by our research, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) is an important part of this process.
