Rakesh Jhunjhunwala effect: Wockhardt shares jump 6% as big bull emerges among major shareholders

Shares of pharmaceutical company Wockhardt surged 6% on Wednesday to trade at a high of Rs 556.56 per share as investors found ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to be among its shareholders. Latest shareholding data of the company, updated on Bombay stock exchange today, showed that the big bull has invested in the firm. Wockhardt is among a few stocks that seem the be fresh additions to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio in the previous quarter. After reaching intra-day highs the stock closed with merely 1.37% gains at Rs 535 apiece. 

Although it can not be established if this investment into Wockhardt is Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s initial purchase of the firm’s stocks, however, this is the first time his name appears on the shareholding pattern of the company. Data shows that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala owns more than 25 lakh equity shares of the firm or a 2.26% stake in it. In the Septemeber quarter shareholding pattern, the big bull did not feature. Firms are only required to disclose the names of those shareholders who own more than 1% stake in the firm.

Other key development in the latest shareholding pattern of the firm is the reduction of stake by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) in the fiscal third quarter. FPIs held a 4.63% stake in Wockhardt at the end of September 2020, the same has come down marginally to 4.06% at the end of the previous quarter. This comes at a time when FPIs have been pumping in record amounts of money into domestic stocks.

Wockhardt is a global pharmaceutical firm. Its Indian arm works in the firms of pharma and biotechnology. Since the beginning of November, the stock price has surged 84%. Wockhardt has been given the task of producing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at its subsidiary in Wales. A production line at the firm’s factory has been reserved for the purpose for the next 18 months by the UK government. In the UK, Wockhardt is one of the largest suppliers into the NHS for over 20 years, has had a presence in Wrexham for over two decades and employs over 400 people at its 612,000 square feet high-tech manufacturing facility.