Here’s Why Investors Are Buzzing about Teva, Amazon, Exxon, and Two Other Stocks

It seems like Deja Vu all over again as pollsters and conventional wisdom were again proven wrong. Less than five months after the pro-Brexit side shocked the world, the Trump campaign defied the odds again by winning the White House.

Given that Trump will become the most powerful person in the world for the next four years, the news of his impending ascension has caused massive changes in various sectors. In addition to company specific news, let’s take a look at how the changes will affect Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), and Total SA (ADR) (NYSE:TOT). Let’s also examine how the investors from our database were positioned towards the five stocks.

While there are many metrics that investors can assess in the investment process, the hedge fund sentiment is something that is often overlooked. However, hedge funds and other institutional investors allocate significant resources while making their bets and their long-term focus makes them the perfect investors to emulate. This is supported by our research, which determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor to beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see the details here).

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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) shares have popped 5% due to improved sentiment. Given that Trump hasn’t talked as much about reigning in drug prices as Clinton has, some traders believe that Teva will do better under a Trump Presidency. In addition, on the account that Trump having said he will roll back government regulations, other traders think that the probability that the Department of Justice will charge Teva and other generic drug manufacturers with collusion will be lower. Of the 749 elite funds we track, 55 funds owned $6.21 billion of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) and accounted for 13.50% of the float on June 30, versus 70 funds and $7.34 billion respectively on March 31.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has retreated more than 2.7% due to Trump previously having said about the e-commerce giant: “Amazon is getting away with murder tax-wise.” Trump also mentioned Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos in the past, saying that: “Because he’s got a huge antitrust problem because he’s controlling so much, Amazon is controlling so much of what they are doing.” Although it is unclear whether Trump will act on his statements, many traders are now cautious on the stock given the new political climate on the Hill. If Amazon comes under more government scrutiny, its growth could slow. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management trimmed its position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 1% to 1.98 million shares in the third quarter .

On the next page, we find out why Exxon Mobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation, and Total SA (ADR) are trending.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), and Total SA (ADR) (NYSE:TOT) are trending after the Financial Times reported that the three have reached a tentative deal to settle the Nigerian government’s contention that the oil companies (and others) had illegally exported crude between 2010 and 2015. Under the settlement terms, the companies will pay $5 billion to cover E&P costs in the nation. The $5 billion will come from the $6 billion figure that the Western oil companies claim that Nigeria still owes them. Both sides hope the deal can be finalized by the end of 2016.

In addition, traders are watching the three companies in hopes that a Trump presidency might boost energy-related names. Given that Donald Trump has said that he wants various Middle Eastern countries to pay their fair share of protection, Saudi Arabia and others might need to raise the price of oil to pay for the potential added protection costs. Among the funds in our database, 60 funds held shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and 47 funds were long Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) on June 30

Due to the fact that it’s an international company, only 16 investors tracked by us had bullish positions in Total SA (ADR) (NYSE:TOT) at the end of the second quarter.

Disclosure: none