A Giant Bank Sold Apple, AT&T, and Twitter Stock. Here’s What It Bought. - Barron's

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Toronto-Dominion Bank subsidiaries lowered overall investments in Apple, AT&T, and Twitter stock in the second quarter. The bank also materially raised its stake in ride-hailing giant Uber.

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One of Canada’s largest banks made some major changes in its U.S.-traded investments in the second quarter.

Toronto-Dominion Bank subsidiaries sold Apple (ticker: AAPL), AT&T (T), and Twitter (TWTR) stock in the second quarter, and bought more Uber Technologies (UBER) stock. TD Bank disclosed the trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

TD Bank, which owned more than $39 billion in U.S.-traded securities as of June 30, declined to comment on the stock trades.

The bank sold 15% of its Apple stock in the second quarter to end June with 2.27 million shares of the iPhone maker; that doesn’t include Apple’s 4-for-1 stock split that was effective Sept. 1.

Including the effect of the split, Apple stock has rocketed 64.8% year to date through Friday’s close, including a 32.6% surge in the third quarter. By comparison, the S&P 500 index has gained 6.1% year to date, and 10.5% in the third quarter.

Apple reported strong quarterly earnings and announced the stock split at the end of July, sending shares soaring. The outperformance of the shares have driven them up in value to represent 25% of Warren Buffett ’s investments.

TD Bank sold 413,280 AT&T shares in the second quarter, reducing its investment to 5.55 million shares of the telecom and media giant.

AT&T stock has lost a quarter of its value this year, including a 2.7% slip since the end of the second quarter.

AT&T has reportedly been exploring the sale of its digital-advertising operations. The company is also supposedly shopping DirecTV, its satellite-television division. We’ve noted that some on Wall Street are skeptical of a deal for the latter, as DirecTV is hemorrhaging subscribers.

Twitter stock is up 24.4% year to date, thanks to a 33.8% surge in the third quarter.

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The social-media firm has been considering subscription options and other services to diversify revenue sources beyond advertising. Twitter’s strong second-quarter user growth overshadowed lackluster revenue and results.

The bank sold 329,244 Twitter shares in the second quarter to end June with 571,339 shares.

TD bank also bought 87,024 additional Uber shares in the quarter, lifting its investment in the ride-hailing firm to 145,607 shares.

Uber stock has risen 11.8% year to date, including an 6.9% gain in the third quarter.

Uber and peer Lyft (LYFT) were set to shut down operations in California until an appeals court granted a stay on a ruling that the companies had to classify their drivers as employees rather than contractors. Uber’s second-quarter results were disappointing, although its CEO had upbeat comments about the company’s food-delivery business. Yet some observers see an uncertain regulatory climate continuing for Uber and Lyft.

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. Because of 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 edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.

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A Giant Bank Sold Apple, AT&T, and Twitter Stock. Here’s What It Bought. - Barron's
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