Among auto companies, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were bought by HDFC mutual funds.

Equity mutual funds were seen selling some pharmaceutical stocks among their large-cap and mid-cap bets while they bought some big names like Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors in the month of May. As shares of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd continued surging, mutual funds booked profits on the stock while also picking up some Bharti Airtel shares, according to a report by ICICI Direct. In the month of May mutual funds saw inflows worth Rs 5,000 crore, down 15% from the Rs 6,213 crore in inflows that equity schemes received in April. Large part of the inflows was directed towards large-cap funds.

HDFC AMC led by Prashant Jain shopped utility firms, buying shares of NTPC and Power Grid Corporation of India. HDFC AMC increased its stake in the firms by 4% and 12%, respectively. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd was one of the biggest buys from the fund house, increasing its share by 434%. Among auto companies, Tata Motors and Bajaj Auto were bought by HDFC mutual funds. 20 lakh shares of Tata Motors were bought while over 1 lakh shares of Bajaj Auto were added to the portfolio. 1.11 crore shares of RIL were sold while 71 lakh shares of Bharti Airtel were bought in may.

ICICI Prudential was also hungry for Hindustan Unilever stocks and Zee Entertainment shares, increasing its stake in both the firms by 103% and 130%, respectively. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank that slipped 13% in May was also bought by ICICI mutual funds in May, increasing their shareholding in the stock by 98%. Despite the grim predictions for multiplex companies, Inox Leisure Ltd was on ICICI’s shopping list. The fund house sold shares of Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries, Cipla, and ONGC.

SBI AMC shopped for Bandhan Bank in May, increasing its stake in the private-sector lender by 247%. On the other hand the fund house cut stake in HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, two big private sector lenders, although the reduction in stake was 3% and 1% respectively. The outperforming pharma sector was also kept in mind by SBI mutual fund as it picked up shares of Aurobindo Pharma, Natco Pharma, and Lupin in the month of May. From its top holding, SBI AMC increased its stake in Bharti Airtel by 10%, taking the total value of shares to Rs 6,507 crore in May from Rs 5,481 crore in April.

Franklin Templeton’s debt mutual funds might still be handling the fall out of its decision to close six funds, but the equity side meant business. The fund house bought 5 lakh shares of Hindustan Unilever in May, adding almost 100 crore in market value. Banks such as Federal Bank, Axis Bank, and SBI were on Franklin Templeton’s shopping cart. Franklin Templeton increased stake in all its top holdings.

Among all mutual funds mapped by ICICI Direct, Hindustan Unilever shares were bought the most among large-caps while Piramal Industries were sold the most. Among mid-caps stocks, mutual funds bought 9 lakh shares of Shriram Transport Finance and sold around 14 lakh shares of Dalmia Bharat.