Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. MWE shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with MWE holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are plenty of indicators investors can use to analyze their holdings. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can beat the market by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE).
What have hedge funds been doing with Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 33% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Magnetar Capital, managed by Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser, holds the largest position in Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE). Magnetar Capital has a $54.6 million position in the stock, comprising 1.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, which held a $35.7 million call position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.
Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, assembled the most outsized call position in Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE). Millennium Management had 35.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also made a $28.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE). These stocks are Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP), Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LNG), Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE:CXO), Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (NYSE:DO), and Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas drilling & exploration industry and their market caps resemble MWE’s market cap.
