IndusInd Bank most-sold stock by mutual funds in February, shows data

IndusInd Bank was among the most-sold stocks by domestic mutual funds (MFs) in February. They offloaded 16 million shares worth Rs 1,600 crore during the month.

 

Among the fund houses that prune their holdings in the troubled lender were Kotak MF, Tata MF and PPFAS MF.

 

Shares of IndusInd Bank are down 32 per cent so far this month amid concerns over the losses incurred by the lender on account of its derivatives exposure.

 

While domestic funds may have pruned their holding lately but they have been aggressively upping their stakes in the Ashok Hinduja-promoted bank over the past one year. Domestic institutional investor (DII) stake in the bank jumped from 24.53 per cent at the end of December 2023 quarter to 39.65 per cent at the end of December 2024 quarter.

 

About 30.31 per cent of the DII stake is held by MFs. Similarly, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and individuals also have upped their stakes over the past one year. Interestingly, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have cut their stakes aggressively, with their holdings declining from 40.51 per cent at the end of December 2023 to 24.41 per cent at the end of December 2024.

 

While the promoter holding in the bank has largely remained unchanged over the past one year, concerns are being raised over stake sales by CEO Sumant Kathpalia and Deputy CEO Arun Khurana.

 

Between May 2023 and June 2024, Kathpalia sold nearly 950,000 shares valued at Rs 134 crore while Khurana sold 550,000 shares worth Rs 82 crore that were part of their employee stock option plan.