Happiest Minds Plunges After Large Trade, Promoter Likely Offloaded 6% Stake

Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd. tumbled nearly 9% on Tuesday after large trades. At least 92 lakh shares, amounting to a 6.1% stake in the company, changed hands in a bunch, according to Bloomberg data.

Promoter Ashok Soota aims to raise Rs 754.7 crore through an open market transaction, with Kotak Securities Ltd. being the sole bookrunner for the issue, according to the term sheet viewed by Bloomberg. The floor price for the block trade was set at Rs 826 per share, a discount of 10% from the previous close.

Ashok Soota held 38.34%, or 5.83 crore, in the software and consulting company as of March 2024, according to the BSE data. Ashok Soota Medical Research LLP, a promoter group, held a 11.79% stake in the firm, among other promoter groups linked to the promoter.

Shares of Happiest Minds fell as much as 8.7% during the day to Rs 837.55 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 7.52% lower at Rs 848.4 apiece, compared to a 0.18% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 9:40 a.m.

The stock has risen fallen 10.8% in the last 12 months and declined by 5% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 206 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 48.

Five out of the six analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock and one recommends a 'hold', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 4.9%.