Two Energy-Related Companies And One MOB-focused REIT Witness Heavy Insider Selling

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) saw a high-ranking insider sell stock in the past two weeks. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas B. Nusz unloaded 200,000 shares on December 23 at prices that ranged from $7.71 to $7.90 per share and currently owns 1.51 million shares. It should be mentioned that the CEO has been gradually cashing out since mid-2015, while the company’s shares have been sliding along the way. In fact, the stock has lost 48% over the past one-year period and appears to be in a bottoming-out phase at the moment. But it all depends on where crude oil prices are headed. This independent exploration and production company mainly operates unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the North Dakota and Montana regions of the Williston Basin. The company’s total revenues for the nine months that ended September 30 totaled $607.67 million, down from $1.09 billion reported for the same period a year ago. Oasis Petroleum believes that it has enough liquidity to cover its anticipated 2016 capital expenditures and meet its near-term future obligations, so bottom fishing investors might consider this company as a potential bet on the crude oil industry rebound. A total number of 26 hedge funds from our database had stakes in the company at the end of the third quarter, accumulating 34.50% of its outstanding shares. Billionaire John Paulson’s Paulson & Co. trimmed its stake in Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) by 6% during the third quarter to 8.27 million shares.

Healthcare Trust Of America Inc. (NYSE:HTA) also had one of its top executives selling big around two weeks ago. President and Chief Executive Officer Scott D. Peters sold a 50,000-share block on December 23 at a weighted average price of $26.95 and currently owns 421,849 shares. This publicly-traded REIT that focuses on medical office buildings (MOBs) has seen its stock drop 7% over the past year, but the stock has been on an uptrend since mid-September. The company reported net income of $23.0 million for the first nine months of 2015, down from $24.5 million reported a year ago. Even so, reputable financial hubs believe that medical office buildings have the most appealing fundamentals across the healthcare REIT space. Stifel’s analyst Chad Vanacore recently reiterated the ‘Buy’ rating on the stock and raised the price target to $29 from $28, citing low exposure to oversupply risks (relative to senior housing) and high protection from direct government reimbursement risk (relative to skilled nursing and hospitals). The analyst believes that MOB-focused REITs are poised to outperform the healthcare REIT sector in 2016, so it remains to see whether the CEO cashed out at the right time. The number of hedge funds from our database with positions in the REIT climbed to 12 from nine during the third quarter, while Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management upped its position in Healthcare Trust Of America Inc. (NYSE:HTA) by 11% during the quarter to 3.18 million shares.

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