Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in February 2024

Inflows in the equity category surged by approximately 23% in February, according to the data released by the association of mutual funds in India (AMFI).

February inflows stood at Rs 268.7 billion (bn) against Rs 217.8 bn recorded in January 2024.

Except focused funds, all categories of stocks received inflows in the month gone by.

During the month, the inflows in the smallcap category declined by 10% and stood at Rs 29.2 bn.

Note that the smallcap category has witnessed a decline for consecutive months now. In January 2024, net inflows in the smallcap space had declined around 16% compared to December 2023.

Systematic investment plans (SIPs) continued their good run and it was the same old story. New retail investors are still attracted towards the SIP route amid soaring equity benchmark indices.

Topping last month's inflows, SIP collections hit a fresh record high of Rs 191.9 bn in February 2024.

Note that the euphoria over midcap and smallcap stocks has come down as mutual funds reduced holdings and even completely exited several smallcap stocks in February 2024.

Let's take a look at the stocks that mutual funds traded the most during this period...

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in February 2024

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as Tata Power, NTPC, SBI, and Sun Pharma.

ITC and PNB were the other largecaps that saw selling.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds offloaded Paytm, LIC Housing Finance, Bandhan Bank and Biocon.

Smallcaps: Capri Global, MMTC, Lux Industries, and Tarsons Products saw maximum selling by MFs from the smallcap space in February 2024.

In fact, apart from the above names, mutual funds also exited India Pesticides, TTK Healthcare, Rama Steel Tubes, Expleo Solutions, and Tourism Finance Corp in February 2024.

Other notable sells from the smallcap space included City Union Bank, Aditya Birla Fashion, Rites, Navin Fluorine International, and Bata India.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in February 2024

Largecaps: Coming to buying, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Union Bank and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) witnessed massive inflows.

Following a substantial purchase in January 2024, mutual funds acquired more shares of HDFC Bank in February.

MFs bought around 60.1 million shares in February followed by 88.3 million shares bought in January 2024.

As of February 2024, mutual funds held over 1.4 billion shares of the bank.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds bought shares of Swan Energy, AU Small Finance Bank, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Federal Bank.

Smallcaps: Kalyan Jewellers, Data Patterns, and Mahanagar Gas were the top smallcap buys.

Latent View Analytics and IndiaMart Intermesh were among other smallcaps that some buying.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in February 2024

Here is the list of top 10 mutual fund houses as per their equity asset under management (AUM) as of February 2024.

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	6,251.74
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	3,815.03
HDFC Mutual Fund	3,501.32
Nippon India Mutual Fund	2,806.92
Kotak Mutual Fund	2,125.18
UTI Mutual Fund	2,121.76
Axis Mutual Fund	1,664.93
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,476.35
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	1,387.73
DSP Mutual Fund	917.29

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

What India's Top Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in February 2024

• SBI Mutual Fund

  India's largest equity fund held Rs 6,252 bn in equities as of February 2024.

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

  Here's what SBI Mutual Fund bought in February 2024.

  New Buys	Value as on 29 February 2024 (Rs m)
  NIIT Learning Systems Ltd.	54.50
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  VIP Industries Ltd.	2,669,135
  KEC International Ltd.	764,854
  Oil India Ltd.	303,617
  SJVN Ltd.	-24,224,700
  Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd.	-162,690
  Delta Corp Ltd.	-1,423,903

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

  Interestingly, SBI mutual fund did not completely exit any stock in the month of February 2024.

• ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

  ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the second largest equity fund house with Rs 3,815 bn in equities as of February 2024.

  The top three equity holdings of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

  Here's what the fund bought and sold in February 2024.

  New Buys	Value as on 29 February 2024 (Rs m)
  Ganesha Ecosphere Ltd.	538.20
  Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd.	462.30
  Rashi Peripherals Ltd.	276.30
  Somany Ceramics Ltd.	100.00
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 January 2024 (Rs m)
  AMI Organics Ltd.	513.10
  Dishman Carbogen Amcis Ltd.	366.00
  IKIO Lighting Ltd.	32.60
  Arvind Smartspaces Ltd.	7.30
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  Procter & Gamble Health Ltd.	97,494
  Ratnamani Metals & Tubes Ltd.	60,209
  Computer Age Management Services Ltd.	97,523
  Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.	-4,687,406
  KFin Technologies Ltd.	-819,296
  Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.	-272,954

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

• HDFC Mutual Fund

  Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 3,501 bn in equities as of February 2024.

  The top five equity holdings of the fund include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, and Reliance Industries.

  Here's what HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in February 2024.

  New Buys	Value as on 29 February 2024 (Rs m)
  Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd.	1,057.40
  Complete Sell	Value as on 31 January 2024 (Rs m)
  Tata Metaliks Ltd. - (Amalgamated)	2,084.60
  Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
  GMM Pfaudler Ltd.	658,527
  Whirlpool Of India Ltd.	1,851,815
  Deepak Nitrite Ltd.	158,265
  GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd.	-6,894,158
  Steel Authority Of India Ltd.	-5,192,208
  MRF Ltd.	-641

  Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of March 2024 remains to be seen.

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

Stay tuned.

As you're interested in what mutual funds are buying and selling, check out Equitymaster's Indian Stock Screener.

This tool tracks the stocks recently bought by mutual funds along with the stocks recently sold by them.

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.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...