Big Investment Firm Bought Up Gold Stocks and Microsoft. Here’s What It Sold.

LGT, which manages $65 billion in assets, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the stock transactions.

LGT bought 340,410 additional shares of Newmont in the fourth quarter to end 2020 with 1.4 million shares.

Newmont stock surged 37.8% in 2020, and so far this year, shares have risen 3.1%. In comparison, the

S&P 500 index,

a measure of the broader market, rose 16.3% last year, and has risen 2.3% year to date.

Newmont is one of Barron’s top stock picks for 2021. “Gold remains a good hedge against ultraloose monetary policies worldwide and possible higher inflation,” we wrote.

The investment firm bought 769,890 more American depositary receipts of South African-based miner AngloGold to end the fourth quarter with 1.9 million ADRs.

AngloGold ADRs managed to eke out a 1.3% gain in 2020. So far this year they are up 2.6%.

In November, AngloGold halted operations at an Argentina mine for 10 days following the detection of Covid-19 cases among its workers. In December, AngloGold said that strong cash-generation will support a sharply higher dividend payment. Also that month, BMO Capital Markets analyst Raj Ray upgraded AngloGold to Outperform from Market Perform. “[W]e see some potential near-term positive catalysts that could drive share price performance,” Ray wrote in a research report.

Microsoft stock surged 41.0% last year, and so far in January it is up 1.6%.

Microsoft has benefited by focusing on the cloud, a move that paid off as the coronavirus pandemic pushed office workers to work from home, creating a critical mass of remote workers. Last week, the software giant announced an investment in

General Motors

’ (GM) self-driving-car unit Cruise.

LGT bought 299,720 Microsoft shares in the quarter to end 2020 with 1.2 million shares.

The investment firm also sold 90,000 SolarWinds shares to end the year with 430,000 shares of the provider of IT infrastructure management software.

SolarWinds stock crumbled in December after the company disclosed that it was the victim of a cyberattack. Shares ended 2020 with a loss of 19.4%, but they are up 6.6% so far in January.

In January, J.P. Morgan analyst Sterling Auty wrote in a report that SolarWinds stock was “an attractive opportunity” for those tolerant of risk.

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.