What’s a smart Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO) investor to do?
To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods shareholders can use to monitor stocks. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as crucial, positive insider trading activity is another way to look at the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
Thus, let’s analyze the latest info for Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO).
How are hedge funds trading Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -7% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO). Renaissance Technologies has a $108.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, which held a $34.6 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Andrew Hall’s Astenbeck Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Since Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO) has faced a fall in interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few hedge funds that slashed their positions entirely at the end of the second quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management cut the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, valued at close to $1.1 million in stock, and David Costen Haley of HBK Investments was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the second quarter.
Insider trading activity in Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO)
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO). These stocks are Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC), China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNP), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), and Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E). This group of stocks are the members of the major integrated oil & gas industry and their market caps are closest to STO’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Ecopetrol S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:EC) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNP) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) | 63 | 0 | 0 |
| ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) | 45 | 0 | 0 |
| Eni SpA (ADR) (NYSE:E) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned research, average investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO) is an important part of this process.
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