Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC) Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

If Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) insiders are generally bullish, should you be? Well, let’s look at hedge fund data too.

In the financial world, there are many metrics market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).

Thus, it’s important to examine the latest info for Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC).

How have hedgies been trading Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 44 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -10% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Eton Park Capital, managed by Eric Mindich, holds the largest position in Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC). Eton Park Capital has a $284.2 million call position in the stock, comprising 5.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $245.9 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Since Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) has experienced dropping sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedgies who were dropping their positions entirely heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies we track, totaling close to $91.2 million in stock. Wayne Cooperman’s fund, Cobalt Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $88.2 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds heading into Q2.

How are insiders trading Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC). These stocks are Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO), Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO), and Imperial Oil Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:IMO). This group of stocks are the members of the oil & gas refining & marketing industry and their market caps match MPC’s market cap.