Ed Lin

One of the largest foundations in the world recently made big changes in its U.S.-traded investment portfolio.

Wellcome Trust of London sold all of its shares of grocery delivery and pickup services firm Maplebear, known by its business name of Instacart; halved a position in shares of tech platform Samsara; and trimmed a position in shares of cloud firm ServiceNow in the fourth quarter. The trust disclosed the stock trades, among others, in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wellcome declined to comment. As of Sept. 30, 2024, it had total funds of $41.4 billion.

Maplebear stock soared 76% in 2024, nearly tripling the 23% rise in the S&P 500 index. So far in January, the shares have gained 12%, while the index is up 2%.

Early on, in February 2024, Maplebear laid off 7% of its workforce as competition heated up. But share repurchases kept investors enthusiastic last year. The company also defied inflationary fears, and saw healthy consumer spending as the year went on.

Wellcome owned 3.6 million Maplebear shares at the end of 2024's third quarter, and sold them all by the end of the year.

The trust sold 432,600 Samsara shares to end 2024 with 425,900 shares.

Strong earnings and guidance powered Samsara stock last year, although shares slumped in December when the company's guidance underwhelmed. The company's two co-founders, CEO and Chairman Sanjit Biswas and Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer John Bicket, together control more than 60% of Samsara's voting power.

Samsara stock rose 31% in 2024, and so far in January shares are up 7.3%.

ServiceNow stock surged 50% in 2024, and so far in the new year shares are up 1.1%.

ServiceNow shares were bolstered by strong earnings and upbeat guidance. Investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence has provided a tailwind for the company. CEO Bill McDermott told Investor's Business Daily earlier this month that he expects ServiceNow to be the "control tower for AI business transformation."

Wellcome sold 75,000 ServiceNow shares to end the fourth quarter with 425,000 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 edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.

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January 24, 2025 21:30 ET (02:30 GMT)

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