Ed Lin

The asset manager of a large oil firm increased positions in large-cap tech stocks.

Shell Asset Management Co., which manages pension funds for London-based Shell, bought more shares of Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft in the second quarter. Samco, as the asset manager is known, disclosed the trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shell didn't respond to a request for comment on Samco's stock trades.

Nvidia stock rose 18% in the first half of 2025, while the Nasdaq 100 index -- of which Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft are components -- gained 7.9%, and the S&P 500 added 5.5%. So far in the third quarter, shares of the artificial-intelligence-chip firm are up 9.8%, while the Nasdaq 100 is 2.6% higher, and the S&P 500 has added 3.0%.

In early July Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to be valued at more than $4 trillion. The month got even better when President Donald Trump removed a block on the sale of Nvidia's H20 chips to China. Days later, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in a sign the company might deepen ties with China.

Samco bought 258,412 more Nvidia shares in the second quarter to lift its investment to 1,245,097 shares.

The asset manager bought 146,160 more Apple shares to end the second quarter with 703,509 shares of the iPhone maker.

Apple lost one of its top AI researchers to Meta Platforms in July, as a battle to bulk up in talent heats up. Also, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams is stepping down this month, and will retire later this year. Williams is being replaced as Apple's No. 2 executive by Sabih Khan, a senior vice president of operations. The company said the moves were part of a long-planned succession.

Apple stock dropped 18% in the first half of the year. So far in the third quarter, shares are up 4.2%.

Microsoft stock rose 18% in the first half of 2025. So far in the third quarter, shares of the software firm are up 3.3%.

Microsoft issued an alert in July about "active attacks" targeting its server software and urged customers to install new security updates that have been released. Earlier in the month, Microsoft launched its latest round of layoffs, about 4,000 jobs, less than 4% of the tech giant's global workforce.

Samco bought 71,920 more Microsoft shares in the second quarter to lift its investment to 349,437 shares.

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. Due to 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 ed.lin@barrons.com

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August 01, 2025 21:31 ET (01:31 GMT)

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