Chevron Corporation (CVX) Losing Support From Top Investors

Since Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there exists a select few funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management dumped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $117.1 million in stock. Legg Mason Capital Management, now a part of ClearBridge, also sold off its stock, about $87.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) but similarly valued. These stocks are Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD), HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). All of these stocks’ market caps match Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 59 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3.26 billion. That figure was $1.73 billion in Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s case. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average and falling, while the amount of capital invested in the stock is also below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) might be a better candidate to consider a long position in.