Oceaneering International (OII): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently.

In the financial world, there are dozens of methods market participants can use to monitor stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII).

What does the smart money think about Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Lone Pine Capital, managed by Stephen Mandel, holds the most valuable position in Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII). Lone Pine Capital has a $240.8 million position in the stock, comprising 1.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Lone Pine Capital’s heels is Steven Richman of East Side Capital (RR Partners), with a $69.7 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Judging by the fact that Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) has witnessed falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few money managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management sold off the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, totaling about $5.5 million in stock., and Douglas W. Case of Advanced Investment Partners was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $4.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII). These stocks are Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:SPN), Oil States International, Inc. (NYSE:OIS), MDU Resources Group Inc (NYSE:MDU), Weatherford International Ltd (NYSE:WFT), and Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE:CLB). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps are closest to OII’s market cap.