Should You Avoid Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)?

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM).

What have hedge funds been doing with Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 51 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -12% from the first quarter.

Judging by the fact that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedgies that slashed their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management said goodbye to the largest position of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $68.4 million in stock.. Ric Dillon’s fund, Diamond Hill Capital, also sold off its stock, about $36.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 7 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

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

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds