Trading Places is Stockhead’s recap of the buys and sells of ASX small cap shares by fund managers and other famous investors over the last fortnight.

Specifically, Stockhead tracks substantial shareholder movements, being shareholders holding 5 per cent or more of a company’s shares. These can be directors, individual investors, or institutional investors.

Shareholders are required to announce to the exchange when they cross above or below the 5 per cent threshold, as well as any change in their holdings while they remain above 5 per cent.
 

Buyers

Below is a list of companies in which investors became substantial shareholders over the past 14 days:

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Yesterday marked the debut of Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) — Afterpay’s new parent company — on the ASX.

And before APT departed the ASX boards, a number of institutional investors presented Form 603s to indicate they had become a substantial investor over the past week.

Among them was First Sentier Investors (formerly Colonial State Asset Management), the ~$240bn fund manager which increased its stake in the business to 5.26%.

Also registering a Form 603 for Afterpay was global investment bank — and noted Afterpay bear — UBS Group AG, and its corporate entities which now owns 5.09% of the company’s shares outstanding.

And massive Japanese investment conglomerate Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group topped up its holding in APT shares to 5.09%.

Elsewhere, tin producer Metals X (ASX:MLX) got a new substantial shareholder in the form of Bank of America, with the bank (and its associated entities) building a stake of 6.47% in the company over the last week.

Metals X also holds a ~30% stake in NiCo Resources (ASX:NC1), a spin-out which is aiming to develop the Wingellina nickel-cobalt where MLX had already established a sizeable mineral resource.

Investors piled into NC1 in its first two days of trade, sending the stock more than 200% higher from its 20c listing price.

Elsewhere, clinical-stage biotech Bionomics (ASX:BNO) welcomed two new substantial shareholders — William Blair & Company, L.L.C. and Evercore Group L.L.C — in connection with its dual-listing on the Nasdaq.

Both companies acted as joint lead underwriters for the listing, which saw Bionomics shares commence trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on December 16.

Microcap gold play Middle Island Resources (ASX:MDI) was another junior explorer to add a substantial investor over the past fortnight as the Copulos Group increased its shareholding to 5.74%.

The Copulos Group represents entities associated with mining industry veteran Stephen Copulos, who is also chairman of Black Rock Mining (ASX:BKT).

Also adding a new substantial shareholder was lithium and base metals player Charger Metals (ASX:CHR), as Australian investment fund Ausbil Investment Management upped its stake to 5.465% on January 6.

That increase was well-timed, as Charger ripped higher this week after flagging results from a geochemistry and aeromagnetic program at its Bynoe lithium project, 50km south of Darwin.
 

Sellers

Below is a list of companies in which investors ceased to be substantial shareholders over the past 14 days:

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