Fortis Healthcare slumps as FII exits counter

Shares of Fortis Healthcare fell for the fourth successive trading session on Monday to close at Rs 161.35 on the BSE. The stock has fallen nearly 7% in the past four days, as a foreign institutional investor is said to have been offloading the shares.

On Monday, the counter witnessed two bulk deals with Trinity Capital selling around 50 lakh shares. According to the company’s shareholding pattern as on December 31, 2009, Trinity held 80 lakh shares of Fortis. According to market grapevine, with Monday’s sale of shares, Trinity has exited the company. Brokers tracking the stock said the entire chunk of 50 lakh shares sold on Monday was picked up by ‘friendly’ circles.

The stock had a good run between January and March this year, touching a 52-week high of Rs 185.70 last month. But market experts feel the performance is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. While market operators may be able to control the floating stock in Fortis for a while, they are unlikely to find takers at higher levels because of expensive valuations, the experts said.

Contributed by Deepali Gupta & Santosh Nair