I spend a lot of time looking at which ASX shares fund managers as I feel it can be important to know where the "smart" money is going.
On this occasion, I thought I would look to see which shares fund managers have been selling. After all, this could arguably be just as important and a potential signal that a share price has topped out.
Here are a couple of updates which have caught my eye this month:
Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)
According to a notice of ceasing to be a substantial holder, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) has been selling this homewares retailer's shares. The notice reveals that the banking giant and its subsidiaries offloaded 678,310 Adairs shares on 14 August. The bank received a total consideration of $2,058,128.20 for the parcel of shares, which equates to an average of $3.03 per share.
It looks as though Commonwealth Bank may have been taking a bit of profit off the table after an incredible rise in the Adairs share price over the last five months. Thanks to strong sales growth during the pandemic, its shares have recovered approximately 600% from their March low and hit a record high of $3.28 earlier today. I estimate that Commonwealth Bank still owns around 7.9 million Adairs shares.
Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC)
A notice of change of interests of substantial holder reveals that Lazard Asset Management Pacific has been trimming down its position in this horticulture company. According to the notice, Lazard has sold just under 7 million shares over the last few weeks. Its biggest sales came on 10 August when it offloaded 4,965,372 shares for a total consideration of $14,599,540.76. This works out to be an average of $2.94 per share and reduces its stake from 7.2% to 5.45%
Once again, this appears to have been driven by profit taking after a positive performance by the Costa share price in 2020. Its shares are currently changing hands for $2.95, which means they are up 17.5% since the start of the year. Costa is scheduled to release its half year results at the end of the month. More on that here.
