HDFC Bank Shares Extend Losses, Nearly Rs 1 Lakh Crore Lost In Last 4 Sessions

The share price of HDFC Bank Ltd fell for the fourth consecutive day in a row on Friday (September 22). Today, HDFC shares closed 1.57% lower at Rs 1529.20 per share. At this share price, India's largest private sector lender has a market capitalization of 11,59,154.60 crore. The sell-off in the HDFC shares in the last four sessions has erased nearly Rs 1 lakh crore from the company's market capitalization.

The stock has a 52-week low at Rs 1,365.05, while Rs 1,757.80 is its 52-week high, which it hit after the merger announcement with HDFC.

Recently, the brokerage firm Nomura downgraded the rating of the stock to neutral from buy and also cut its price target to Rs 1,800 from Rs 1,970 earlier.

In an exchange filing on Thursday, HDFC Bank informed that out of 86,83,148 equity shares of Rs. 10 each held by erstwhile HDFC Ltd., in Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Limited (HOEC) (i) HDFC Ltd. sold 239,144 shares on March 31, 2022 and on June 23, 2023 and (ii) after the effective date (July 1, 2023) of the merger of HDFC Ltd. with and into HDFC Bank Limited, the Bank sold 26,98,744 shares (representing 2.04% of the share capital of HOEC). Thus, the Bank has reduced its stake in HOEC by around 2.22%.

The Divestment of 2.22% stake in HOEC over the period between March 31, 2022, to September 21, 2023, as under:

On March 31, 2022, and on June 23, 2023, erstwhile HDFC Ltd. sold a total of 239,144 shares of HOEC (being 0.18% equity stake) through the secondary market route on NSE, post which its shareholding in HOEC stood at 6.39%.

Between September 1, 2023, and September 21, 2023 (both days inclusive), the Bank sold 26,98,744 shares of HOEC (being 2.04% equity stake) through the secondary market route on NSE, post which the shareholding of the Bank in HOEC currently is 4.34%.
HDFC Bank has a dividend yield of 1.24%. In the last one year the stock has gained almost 3%.