Another energy name that fell in the second quarter was Chevron, now ranked 20th on the list—right on the cusp of dropping out next time around. If both Shell and Chevron fall out, there won't be a single energy name in the institutional top 20 most widely held for the first time since 2004.
Given that crude prices have fallen as much as 6 percent Monday to fresh 6 ½-year lows, it's hard to expect a bounce back anytime soon. Shell itself expects oil prices to be down for a while, and has cut back on capital expenditures to handle that new reality. Exxon Mobil already has dropped off the second-quarter list, and there's little chance it will be back up again in the third quarter.
The percentage of institutional funds that owned Chevron dropped 40 basis points during the quarter, down to 12.53 percent from 12.93 percent. That may have been a good move because on July 31, after the quarter ended, Chevron reported its worst profit in nearly 13 years. As of Monday, the stock is down about 20 percent alone just since then. On Friday, hedge fund manager Jim Chanos told CNBC that he dislikes Chevron as well, further matching up with the lack of support for energy shares.
But the recent shift away from the energy stocks begs the question of whether they were oversold.
"How can there be no energy companies in the top 20?" wondered Kenny Polcari, director of floor trading for O'Neil Securities. "This could be a big sign that selloff has been overextended."
Read MoreSee how the data compares to last quarter