Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in January 2021

Equity mutual funds witnessed an outflow of Rs 92.5 billion in January 2021.

This was the seventh consecutive monthly withdrawal.

The outflows were primarily seen due to a massive pullout from the newly created flexi-fund category and profit-booking by investors as the benchmark indices scaled record-high levels.

Let us take a look at which stocks mutual funds traded in the most during this period.

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in January 2021

Indian mutual funds cut their holdings in key Nifty stocks in January, as retail investors continued to withdraw money from equity schemes with the Indian stock market setting new record highs.

In January, mutual funds trimmed their positions in Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, PowerGrid Corp of India and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

• Reliance Industries

  Data showed Reliance Industries was the most-sold stock by mutual funds in January 2021 with an outflow of Rs 20.8 bn.

  However, despite the above sell-off, Reliance Industries remains one of the top 10 holdings by almost all mutual fund houses.

  The oil-to-telecom conglomerate reported 12.5% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its Q3FY21 net profit at Rs 131 bn.

• Infosys

  Infosys was another one on the list of the most-sold stocks by mutual funds in January 2021 with an outflow of Rs 20.1 bn.

  The IT major had reported a 16.8% YoY rise in consolidated net profit for December quarter at Rs 52.1 billion.

  To know more, you can check out our detailed analysis of Infosys' Q3FY21 results.

• Bharti Airtel

  Other top stock sold was Bharti Airtel with an outflow of Rs 12 bn.

  While domestic mutual funds were net sellers in Bharti Airtel, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) raised their stakes in telecom stocks.

  Data shows telecom stocks received US$ 355 m in January from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

  Apart from the above, other stocks sold by mutual funds include Power Grid and TCS with outflows of Rs 10.3 bn and Rs 9.8 bn, respectively.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in January 2021

• Indian Railway Finance Corporation

  The newly listed Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), with an inflow of Rs 9.2 bn, was the most bought stock by mutual funds in the month of January 2021.

  The company is a public-sector undertaking (PSU), wholly-owned by the Government of India acting through the Ministry of Railways.

  The key business activity of IRFC is to finance the rolling stock assets acquisition including powered as well as unpowered vehicles. The company follows the leasing model to finance the rolling stock assets as well as project assets.

  To know more, you can check our IPO note on the company here: Indian Railway Finance Corporation IPO: Should You Apply? (requires subscription)

• HCL Technologies

  Another stock that saw huge buying was HCL Technologies.

  The company had reported strong earnings for the third quarter ended December 31 with net profit jumping 31% YoY to Rs 39.8 billion while revenues rose 6.4% YoY to Rs 193 billion.

  Apart from above two, the other top stocks that mutual funds bought in January were Axis Bank, Asian Paints, and Larsen and Toubro.

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Mutual Funds go Shopping in the Primary Markets in January

Mutual funds also bought initial public offerings (IPOs) worth Rs 12 bn in January.

Of the new IPOs, IRFC got the major chunk followed by Indigo Paints, which got Rs 1.4 bn, and Home First, which received Rs 1.2 bn.

So, those were the most traded stocks by mutual funds in the month of January 2021.

Let us now look at what India's biggest mutual funds bought and sold in the month of January 2021.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in January 2021

Below is the list of top 10 mutual fund houses as per their equity asset under management (AUM) as on January 2021.

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs, bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	2,443.1
HDFC Mutual Fund	1,447.9
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	1,440.6
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,034.2
UTI Mutual Fund	964.2
Axis Mutual Fund	904.4
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	844.1
Kotak Mutual Fund	814.8
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	557.8
DSP Mutual Fund	468.2

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

Here's what the top three asset managers bought and sold in the month January 2021.

What India's Top Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in January 2021

• SBI Mutual Fund

  India's largest equity fund held Rs 2,443 bn in equities as of January 2021.

  The top three equity holdings of the fund include HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, and Infosys.

  Here's what SBI Mutual Fund bought and sold in January 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 January 2021 (Rs m)
  Antony Waste Handling Cell Ltd.	344.7
  Indigo Paints Ltd.	202.3
  Wendt (India) Ltd.	165.5
  Equitas Holdings Ltd.	117.9
  Apollo Tyres Ltd.	47.2
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 December 2020 (Rs m)
  Amara Raja Batteries Ltd.	257.8
  Route Mobile Ltd.	192.4
  Navneet Education Ltd.	1.7
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Steel Authority of India Ltd.	53,779,000
  Automotive Axles Ltd.	218,990
  Indus Towers Ltd.	1,801,229
  Sobha Ltd.	-540,256
  HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd.	-119,900
  REC Ltd.	-6,465

  Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• HDFC Mutual Fund

  HDFC Mutual Fund stands as the second largest equity fund with Rs 1,447 bn in equities as of January 2021.

  The top three equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Infosys.

  Here's what HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in January 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 January 2021 (Rs m)
  Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd.	4,111.2
  Techno Electric & Engineering Company Ltd.	473
  Akzo Nobel India Ltd.	337.2
  Indigo Paints Ltd.	160
  MRF Ltd.	31.9
  Bharat Forge Ltd.	14
  Lumax Industries Ltd.	11.5
  Dr. Lal Pathlabs Ltd.	5.6
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 December 2020 (Rs m)
  Angel Broking Ltd.	138.4
  Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd.	83.8
  SRF Ltd.	80.1
  IFB Industries Ltd.	35.3
  National Aluminium Company Ltd.	3.7
  Torrent Power Ltd.	2.9
  Technocraft Industries (India) Ltd.	1.8
  BL Kashyap & Sons Ltd.	1.5
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  TeamLease Services Ltd.	121,690
  Piramal Enterprises Ltd.	365,750
  The Ramco Cements Ltd.	105,400
  Ashok Leyland Ltd.	-1,890,000
  Havells India Ltd.	-78,000
  DLF Ltd.	-316,800

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

  Following HDFC Mutual Fund we have ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund with Rs 1,440 bn in equities as of January 2021.

  The top three equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Infosys.

  Here's what ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought and sold in January 2021.

  New Buys	Value as on 31 January 2021 (Rs m)
  Home First Finance Company India Ltd.	280
  Indigo Paints Ltd.	160
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 December 2020 (Rs m)
  Neogen Chemicals Ltd.	14.4
  Dhani Services Ltd.	2.5
  Hatsun Agro Products Ltd.	1.3
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  SKF India Ltd.	274,282
  Century Textiles & Industries Ltd.	86,310
  Sundaram Finance Ltd.	162,903
  Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd.	-49,867
  VST Industries Ltd.	-25,203
  Orient Cement Ltd.	-116,064

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of February remains to be seen.

We will keep you updated on all the developments from this space.

Stay tuned!

Happy investing.

PS: The above piece relies on data from PersonalFN. PersonalFN is a Mumbai based personal finance firm offering Financial Planning and Mutual Fund Research services.