In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to watch publicly traded companies. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as useful, bullish insider trading activity is another way to look at the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of motivations for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you know where to look (learn more here).
What’s more, we’re going to examine the latest info about WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX).
What have hedge funds been doing with WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital had the biggest position in WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX), worth close to $242.4 million, comprising 8.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On Taconic Capital’s heels is John A. Levin of Levin Capital Strategies, with a $64.7 million position; the fund has 1.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors.
As WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) has witnessed dropping sentiment from upper-tier hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedgies that elected to cut their entire stakes in Q1. Intriguingly, Robert Pitts’s Steadfast Capital Management said goodbye to the largest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, totaling close to $40.4 million in stock. Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s fund, Magnetar Capital, also sold off its stock, about $12.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX). These stocks are Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS), Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:GPOR), Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX), and Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:UPL). All of these stocks are in the independent oil & gas industry and their market caps are closest to WPX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:GPOR) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:UPL) | 21 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by our strategies, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and WPX Energy Inc (NYSE:WPX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
