The largest pension fund in the U.S. reduced its FAANG holdings in the first quarter amid the tech rout at the start of the year, the 13-F filed with the SEC late Wednesday revealed.
FAANG Loses Favor: The California Public Employees' Retirement System, aka CalPERS, sold shares in all FAANG names in the first quarter, with the percentage of cutbacks ranging from about 6% to 24%.
CalPERS may have chosen to be proactive with respect to its stance on streaming giant Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), which sounded out a slowdown in net paid adds on its earnings call in late January. At the end of the first quarter, the fund held about 1.174 million Netflix shares, down 34% from its holdings at the end of the fourth quarter.
CalPERS sold 14.4% of its Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stake and held about 4.668 million shares at the end of the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) held 1.29 million, comprising both Class A and Class C shares, down 6.3% from the end of the fourth quarter.
The fund disposed of about 7.7% of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares and 6.2% of Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares. At the end of the first quarter, CalPERS' holding of these shares stood at 1.03 million and 31.70 million, respectively.
The fund also sold 5.7% of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares and held 17.35 million shares at the end of the quarter.
Related Link: Apple Analyst Warns Of 'Considerable Risk' For Tech Sector In Coming Months
AMD Over Intel: CalPERS bulked up on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) shares, adding 25.4% more shares in the quarter to 3.28 million.
Incidentally, AMD shares came under significant selling pressure in the first quarter amid the tech sell-off. It underperformed the broader technology sector despite the company's fundamentals remaining on a firmer foundation. The sell-off was blamed on fears of a semiconductor cycle correction and the risks posed by geopolitical tensions.
CalPERS did liquidate 6.4% of its Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) holdings during the first quarter. It held about 9.4 million Intel shares at the end of the quarter.
The Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (NASDAQ:QQQ), considered a proxy for big tech companies, has shed about 17% in the year-to-date period.
On Thursday afternoon at publication, the ETF was seen slipping 4.78% to $314.15, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo: Brandon Starr via Flickr Creative Commons
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