Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was in 39 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. psx has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 41 hedge funds in our database with psx positions at the end of the previous quarter.
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX).
How have hedgies been trading Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)?
At year’s end, a total of 39 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -5% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had the most valuable position in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), worth close to $1.442 billion, comprising 1.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Steven Richman of East Side Capital (RR Partners), with a $184 million position; 1.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that hold long positions include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management and Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management.
Due to the fact that Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has faced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there was a specific group of fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital dropped the largest position of all the hedgies we watch, comprising about $35 million in stock.. Doug Silverman’s fund, Senator Investment Group, also dropped its stock, about $28 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.
How are insiders trading Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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