PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (PTR): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many indicators shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can beat the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a gander at the recent action encompassing PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR).

Hedge fund activity in PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -20% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR), worth close to $38.6 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $10.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management and Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates.

Because PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there exists a select few money managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes heading into Q2. Interestingly, Jason Adler’s AlphaBet Management cut the largest stake of all the hedgies we key on, worth close to $1.4 million in stock.. Murray Stahl’s fund, Horizon Asset Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $1.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds heading into Q2.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR). These stocks are TOTAL S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TOT), BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX). All of these stocks are in the major integrated oil & gas industry and their market caps are closest to PTR’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and PetroChina Company Limited (ADR) (NYSE:PTR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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