Vedanta shares were trading 2% down in the morning session on March 4 in line with the market sentiment after Societe Generale sold shares in the company via open market deals.

On March 3, France-based financial services company Societe Generale sold 2.24 crore shares or a 0.6% stake in metal firm Vedanta at an average price of Rs 391.74 for around Rs 880 crore.

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Bengal Finance, Nippon India Mutual Fund and PGIM India Mutual Fund were among the buyers of the shares.

The share closed 20.25 points or 5.11% lower at Rs 375.70.

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Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta on March 3 declared an interim dividend of Rs 13 per share. “The board through a resolution passed by circulation on March 2 approved the third interim dividend of Rs 13 per share, that is, 1300% on the face value of Re 1 per share for the financial year 2021-22 amounting to Rs 4,832 crore,” the company said in a filing.

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The record date for determining shareholder eligibility for payment of the dividend is March 10.

After the announcement, Vedanta shares hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 400.95 on March 3. The Vedanta stock is trading higher than its 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

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Vedanta shares have gained over 8% in the last five days. Vedanta shares have risen 79.72% in the last year and gained 8.38% since the beginning of this year.

On the BSE, the market cap of the company rose to Rs 1.42 lakh crore.

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Vedanta’s consolidated net profit jumped 26.2% to Rs 4,164 in Q3 FY22 as compared to a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,299 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated revenue during the October-December quarter increased to Rs 34,674 crore from Rs 23,621 crore in the year-ago period.

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Vedanta is investing $15 billion into the chip and display manufacturing space, it also plans to increase its investment to as much as $20 billion, according to a PTI report.

Earlier, Vedanta cancelled the restructuring plan to separately list its aluminium, iron and steel, and oil and gas businesses as standalone entities. The company will remain in its current form.