Top 5 Stocks Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in May 2023

Amid a sustained rally in Indian markets, investors opted to book profits in the month of May 2023 and redeem at least some of their mutual fund investments.

Data released by the mutual fund association AMFI showed that redemptions in active equity mutual funds hit a 20-month high in May 2023.

Investors pulled out Rs 275.7 billion (bn) last month, the highest since September 2021, when equity MF units worth Rs 279.8 bn were redeemed.

And that is why the inflows for May 2023 halved. Net inflows declined to a six-month low of Rs 32.4 bn in May 2023.

Prior to this, equity mutual fund inflows had fallen to a five-month low of Rs 64.8 bn in April.

Despite a steep fall in net inflows, systematic investment plans (SIPs) continued their good run. Investors yet again pumped a record Rs 147.5 bn through SIPs.

Over 1.05 million new SIP accounts were opened last month.

Any guesses which category received the highest inflows?

The good run in Indian markets for the past three months resulted in smallcaps and midcaps outperforming the largecap indices. The individual run-up in stock prices is even more. So it was obvious that retail participants would opt to ride the momentum wave by taking some exposure to small and midcap funds.

So, while investors pulled out the highest amount from largecap, flexicap, thematic & sectoral schemes, smallcap schemes received inflows of Rs 32.8 bn, which is also the highest since AMFI started releasing the data.

Midcap funds saw an inflow of Rs 12 bn.

Debt funds, which recorded the highest inflows since October 2020 last month, continued the trend and saw strong inflows to the tune of Rs 460 bn.

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

Top Stocks Sold by Mutual Funds in May 2023

Largecaps: Indian mutual funds trimmed their positions in largecap stocks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Aeronautics, and Hindustan Zinc.

Macrotech Developers, LIC and Eicher were the other largecaps that saw selling. Insurance behemoth LIC marked the second consecutive month where mutual funds reduced their holding.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds offloaded IRFC, SAIL and Sona BLW Precision Forgings.

Smallcaps: Easy Trip Planners, Nocil, Route Mobile and Mastek saw maximum selling by MFs from the smallcap space in May 2023.

Top Stocks Bought by Mutual Funds in May 2023

Largecaps: Coming to buying, Adani Total Gas, Nykaa, Indus Towers and JSW Steel witnessed massive inflows.

HDFC, HDFC Life, and Tata group's Tata Elxsi also witnessed buying.

Among the notable names, fund managers added around 3 lakh shares of Adani Total Gas last month, taking their holding to 13 lakh shares from 10 lakh shares in April.While they added 23.5 million shares of Nykaa.

Midcaps: From the midcap space, mutual funds bought shares of Vedant Fashions, Vodafone Idea, Laurus Labs and PolicyBazaar.

Smallcaps: Jupiter Wagons, Astra Microwave and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders were the top smallcap buys.

Fund managers also bought other smallcaps including HEG, Graphite, Amara Raja Batteries and Globus Spirits

Jupiter Wagons could turn out to be a dark horse for mutual funds as the company has strong growth prospects, that have even translated into good numbers on its balance sheet.

Top Equity Mutual Funds in May 2023

Here is the list of top 10 mutual fund houses as per their equity asset under management (AUM) as of May 2023.

Top 10 Equity Mutual Funds as per AUM

Top Fund Houses	Equity AUM (Rs bn)
SBI Mutual Fund	4,946.4
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund	2,612.3
HDFC Mutual Fund	2,381.8
Nippon India Mutual Fund	1,790.6
UTI Mutual Fund	1,730.4
Kotak Mutual Fund	1,501.1
Axis Mutual Fund	1,397.1
Aditya Birla SL Mutual Fund	1,165.7
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund	1,065.9
DSP Mutual Fund	691.2

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

What India's Top Mutual Funds Bought and Sold in May 2023

# SBI Mutual Fund

India's largest equity fund held Rs 4,946 bn in equities as of May 2023.

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

Here's what SBI Mutual Fund bought and sold in May 2023.

New Buys	Value as on 31 May 2023 (Rs m)
Fusion Micro Finance Ltd.	252.5
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Aarti Industries Ltd.	1,70,191
Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd.	25,661
Mankind Pharma Ltd.	31,54,721
Tata Chemicals Ltd.	-1,75,348
Power Finance Corporation Ltd.	-55,04,462
Balkrishna Industries Ltd.	-33,222

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

# ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund was the second largest equity fund house with Rs 2,612 bn in equities as of May 2023.

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

Here's what the fund bought and sold in May 2023.

New Buys	Value as on 31 May 2023 (Rs m)
Voltamp Transformers Ltd.	20.00
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Thyrocare Technologies Ltd.	65,424
Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd.	23,295
Vijaya Diagnostic Centre Ltd.	10,32,117
Sanofi India Ltd.	-2,41,148
Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd.	-18,95,800
Home First Finance Company India Ltd.	-1,44,698

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

# HDFC Mutual Fund

Following ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund we have HDFC Mutual Fund with Rs 2,382 bn in equities as of May 2023.

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

Here's what HDFC Mutual Fund bought and sold in May 2023.

New Buys	Value as on 31 May 2023 (Rs m)
Sterling Tools Ltd.	53.70
Top Increase / Decrease in Stakes	Change in No. of Shares
Jubilant Ingrevia Ltd.	6,69,184
3M India Ltd.	3,403
Abbott India Ltd.	3,937
Tube Investments of India Ltd.	-84,108
Petronet LNG Ltd.	-8,41,859
DLF Ltd.	-15,51,136

Data Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research

For now, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are doing the heavy lifting while mutual fund inflows are starting to show signs of consolidation.

Till date this current year, we've seen the largest FII net inflows of Rs 378.9 bn with most of the inflows coming in the months of April and May 2023.

The Adani group has started talks of a major refinancing, months after the Hindenburg fallout. Mutual funds continue to remain cautious on Adani stocks as data released showed that out of the 10 Adani group stocks, 6 saw selling by mutual funds in May 2023.

How the mutual fund buying and selling trend pans out in the month of June 2023 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 outEquitymaster's Indian Stock Screener.

This tool tracks thestocks recently bought by mutual fundsalong with thestocks 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...