Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (KOG) Anymore

Is it smart to be bullish on Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG)?

To the average investor, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as useful, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the marketplace. There are a number of stimuli for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Thus, it’s important to analyze the recent info about Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG).

What have hedge funds been doing with Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -14% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the biggest position in Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG), worth close to $145 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is John Paulson of Paulson & Co, with a $133 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Jacob Doft’s Highline Capital Management and Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners.

Since Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG) has experienced a fall in interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few fund managers who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. At the top of the heap, Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management dumped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, comprising an estimated $17.3 million in stock. Louis Bacon’s fund, Moore Global Investments, also sold off its stock, about $15.5 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG) has experienced 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 Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp (USA) (NYSE:KOG). These stocks are Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD), Pengrowth Energy Corp (USA) (NYSE:PGH), SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:SD), Unit Corporation (NYSE:UNT), and EV Energy Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ:EVEP). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps match KOG’s market cap.