A giant pension has made substantial changes in its U.S.-traded investments.
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd. boosted its stake in Salesforce.com (ticker: CRM) and Canada Goose Holdings (GOOS), initiated a position in Walmart (WMT), and cut its Workday (WDAY) holdings nearly in half in the third quarter. The Leeds, U.K.-based pension disclosed the trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Border to Coast, which managed $30 billion of assets as of March 31, declined to comment on the transactions.
The pension bought 335,963 additional Salesforce shares to lift its holdings in the cloud-based enterprise-software firm to 437,410 shares. The stock surged 21.9% this year through September. Since then, it has been flat. For comparison, the S&P 500 index rose 14.7% in the first nine months of the year, and it is up 2% so far in the fourth quarter.
Salesforce’s fiscal second quarter, ended July, was strong. In late September, the stock rose after the company raised guidance. CEO Marc Benioff continues to disparage Facebook (FB).
Border to Coast bought 156,300 more Canada Goose shares to end September with 792,838 shares of the iconic jackets maker. The stock rose 19.8% in the first three quarters. So far in the fourth, shares have risen 4.6%.
Canada Goose in June said it would end the use of animal fur in its products. Losses have been rising. In November, Canada Goose is launching a shoe collection.
Border to Coast initiated a position in Walmart by buying 158,000 shares.
Walmart stock slipped 3.3% in the first nine months of the year, and has been flat so far in October. The retailing giant has been reporting strong earnings, even if shares haven’t responded. Walmart and other retailers are chartering their own ships to avoid supply-chain issues for the holiday season.
The pension slashed its investment in Workday stock by selling 31,500 shares to end September with 39,400 shares of the provider of enterprise HR and financial software.
Workday stock rose 4.3% in the first nine months of the year, and has gained 2.4% since then. Workday’s earnings have been topping estimates. Bulls are upbeat on the shares as a play on growth in IT spending. In late September Workday expanded a partnership with Alphabet
‘s (GOOGL) Google.
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 [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.
