Giant Fund Sells Apple, Tesla, Microsoft Stock. It Bought Walmart.
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An Apple Store. PSP Investments cut its Apple position in the second quarter.
Getty Images
A giant Canadian pension recently made substantial changes in its U.S.-traded investments.
Public Sector Pension Investment Board cut positions in
Apple
(ticker: AAPL),
Tesla
(TSLA), and
Microsoft
(MSFT), and bought more
Walmart
(WMT) shares in the second quarter. PSP Investments, as the pension is known, disclosed the stock trades in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
PSP Investments, of Montreal, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the investment changes. It manages $180 billion in assets.
PSP Investments sold 680,541 Apple shares to end the second quarter with 3.2 million shares of the iPhone maker. Apple stock slid 23% in the first half of the year, compared with a 21% drop in the
S&P 500 index
.
So far in the third quarter, shares are up 25% while the index is up 12%.
Apple’s recent rise means it has the heaviest weighting of any stock in the S&P 500 since 1980.
Warren Buffett’s
Berkshire Hathaway (
BRKb
) added to its Apple stake in the second quarter. Apple’s third fiscal quarter, reported at the end of July, was strong.
One observer thinks that Tesla can dominate the car market the same way the Apple’s iPhone disrupted the mobile-phone market by dislodging a dominant player. Tesla investors are probably now most focused on the company’s three-for-one stock split. Earlier this month, Tesla seemed ready to make its charging network compatible with vehicles made by other manufacturers. We think that’s a smart move, with a bit of risk.
PSP Investments sold 68,242 Tesla shares to end the second quarter with 127,018 shares. Tesla stock slid 36% in the first half of the year, and so far in the third quarter shares are up 32%.
The pension sold 476,302 Microsoft shares to cut its investment in the software giant to 1.8 million shares. Microsoft stock dropped 24% in the first half of the year, and so far in the third quarter shares are up 11%.
In late July, Microsoft said on an earnings call that it saw continued double-digit growth. Resilient strength in cloud operations overshadowed lackluster earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft’s latest. Earlier this month, Microsoft has reportedly asked teams across the company to rein in some employee expenses by trimming spending on business travel, outside training, and company gatherings.
Walmart cut hundreds of jobs earlier this month. Second-quarter earnings, reported this month, were strong, however, and Walmart also lifted earnings guidance. Some think rising interest rates remain a headwind for the company, however.
PSP Investments bought 146,543 more Walmart shares to end the second quarter with 898,368 shares. Walmart stock slipped 16% in the first half of the year, and so far in the third quarter shares are up 13%.
Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.
Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.
