Somehow the stock market keeps finding a way to March higher.  Did I just do that?… yes, I did.

Unlike the previous two months where the S&P 500 faded to close the month, this time it finished near highs.  Overall, some nice gains were posted for the month.

Of course, my Portfolio is much better for the gains, but I can’t help but feel valuations are a bit frothy.  Despite that, I don’t plan to make any big changes, and I will stay heavily invested.

 

In March, the stocks within my top 10 did not change overall.  However, 8 of the 10 stocks changed positions.  One stock moved over 5 spots.  Which stock was it, and which direction did it go?  Keeping reading to find out.

As for March transactions, I slowed things down a bit compared to the previous two months.   The activity I did have resulted in me investing some cash into an existing holding.  But I then followed that up with a trim of another holding, and used those proceeds to buy more of the same stock I put cash into.  So, one position was boosted quite a bit in March.  Any thoughts on which stock that might be?

As noted above, March has been a good month, but I wouldn’t say it stood out as being overly impressive.  However, my ratio of Portfolio stocks with gains compared to declines indicates that it was an outstanding month.  Wait until you see the numbers!

When it comes to my watchlist, rising stock prices have reduced the number of stocks on my radar.  Bargains are harder to find these days, for sure.  Still, I’ve managed to round up a handful of stocks to keep an eye on – the list should seem familiar.  I’ll share those below.

Let’s get to it… bring on my Portfolio Thoughts for March, 2021.

 

Value Movement

My top 2 stocks stood pat in the rankings this month, but the rest of the top 10 got shuffled up pretty good.

Qualcomm (QCOM) comfortably retained the #1 spot despite posting my worst individual price move within my Portfolio for the 2nd month in a row (more details coming below).  The massive run from QCOM from April 2020 to January 2021 has finally lost some steam.

The #2 spot was secured for another month by RPM International (RPM).  A good month of performance helped RPM pull closer to QCOM, and away from the pair of stocks that were right behind it.

Then the shake-up began…

 

 

The next two stocks switched places during March, with T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) settling in at #3, while Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) slipped to #4.  While both stocks managed a positive month, TROW noticeably outperformed SWKS, allowing it to pull ahead in the rankings.

One of my bigger movers up was BlackRock (BLK).  BLK climbed three spots to #5 on the back of a solid performance.  BLK has offered me good price performance in addition to strong dividend growth.  You can see this in my most recent Performance Check – BlackRock (BLK).

Union Pacific (UNP) managed to climb a spot to #6.  This stock also had a good performance in March.  I’m hoping UNP finds a way to boost their dividend this year after holding it steady in 2020.

Another stock jumping up the rankings in March was Lowe’s Companies (LOW).  LOW moved up three spots to #7 on the heels of a monster month.  How good was it?  I’ll tell you shortly.

After slipping down the rankings in recent months, Procter & Gamble (PG) rose a spot this month to #8.  I’m looking forward to a likely PG dividend raise announcement next month.

Now if the last four stocks I mentioned all managed to move up… something must be falling, right?  Of course, and it was these next two stocks.

Falling three spots to #9 was Visa (V).  V was slightly positive in March, which made it seem like it was standing still.  Business is still not back to normal for V, and it most likely won’t be the case until worldwide travel recovers from the pandemic.

As if moving down three spots in the rankings like V wasn’t enough, Nike (NKE) topped it by tanking five spots to #10.  A weak performance in March combined with a narrow lead it held over several stocks at the end of last month resulted in the precipitous decline.

Aflac (AFL), Fastenal (FAST) and Pepsico (PEP) lurk outside the top 10 by a decent amount, so don’t expect a change in my top 10 stocks by next month.

 

From the table above, my top 10 holdings now comprise 36.39% of my Portfolio value.  This is only a slight decrease of 0.08% compared to last month.

As for the dividend weighting of my top 10, this ended the month at 26.18%, which was an even slighter decrease of 0.03%.  QCOM saw a dividend weighting boost thanks to announcing a dividend raise in March.  However, the other 9 stocks each declined a small amount in dividend weighting due to my investment dollars being invested outside my top 10.  Speaking of investment dollars, where did those go last month?  Let’s find out…

 

Transactions

My March transaction count came in at 3.  This was a reduction in activity compared to January & February.

I started by investing some cash in Merck & Co. (MRK), continuing to build out that position.

That was followed a couple of days later with a trim of Gentex (GNTX), and then taking those sale proceeds and adding to MRK again.

Fairly simple, right?  All the details, including the actual boost to my forward dividend income, can be found in this single post…

 

Recent Transactions – MRK & GNTX

 

Since my GNTX sale was just a trim, and MRK was already an existing position, the number of positions in my Portfolio remained at 52.

 

Price Movement

Note – my price changes cover closing prices from 2/26/21 to 3/26/21.

March brought some incredibly positive results to my Portfolio.  I posted better than a 9:1 ratio of stocks with price gains compared to price declines.  I can’t recall if I’ve ever done better than that.  Maybe last November?  I’d have to go back and look.  Either way, wow!  That’s a lot of green!

I was happy with the 2:1 positive ratio from February, but I’ll take something better, no doubt.  Of my 52 holdings, 47 moved higher, while only 5 moved lower.

The best part… I had a substantial number of 10%+ gainers, and a maximum loss of only 2.35% from my worst performer.  Talk about the scales tipping in my favor!

 

Of my 47 stocks that rose in price, one stock posted an increase over 20%, while fifteen others climbed up over 10% (the usual threshold I monitor).  Of course I have to mention another sixteen stocks that gained over 5%.

The top gainers were:

• Altria Group (MO), leaping 20.41%
• Lowe’s Companies (LOW), vaulting 19.94%
• RPM International (RPM), jumping 18.48%
• Cisco Systems (CSCO), rising 17.16%
• Pinnacle West Capital (PNW), surging 14.71%

That’s 5 stocks from 5 different sectors leading my gainers.  I like that stocks from so many different sectors were participating in the gains.

PNW was a recent addition to my Portfolio last month.  I seemed to have timed that entry fairly well.

 

Of my 5 stocks that dropped in price in March, as mentioned earlier, none declined more 2.35%.  That’s the way to contain those losses!  Here’s the entire list of my decliners…

• Qualcomm (QCOM), dipping 2.35%
• The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), drooping 1.65%
• AbbVie (ABBV), slipping 1.63%
• Nike (NKE), retreating 1.33%
• Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI), inching back 0.16%

Once again, 5 stocks from 5 different sectors!

QCOM led my losers for the 2nd month in a row, although at a much smaller percentage compared to last month.

 

Watch List

I’ve mostly been adding to my Healthcare names thus far in 2021.  That’s despite wanting to increase my weighting in Information Technology and Communication Services (my two most underweight sectors).  I’ve got 3 quarters to try to address that before year’s end.  We’ll see what I can get done.

After dipping my toes in the Utility sector last month, I could afford to add some more investment dollars there, too.

Meanwhile, Industrials, Materials and Consumer Staples lead my most overweight sectors.  I may look for a stock or two to trim in these sectors.

I’ll keep all these weightings in mind as I adjust my Portfolio, and my watchlist.

 

Within my Portfolio, here are some stocks that I’m watching for possible additions…

Considering all the moves up by my Portfolio stocks in March, attractive values are harder to come by.  I believe all my watchlist stocks from February managed to advance in price in March.  That includes MRK, Lockheed Martin (LMT), Amgen (AMGN), PNW, NextEra Energy (NEE) and Realty Income (O).

If I’m still choosing from the above group, I’d be inclined to add to MRK or LMT first, although these two seem to be pulling away from me as the days go by.

 

As for non-Portfolio stocks that I’m watching…

Last month I had a target of $310 for Costco Wholesale (COST).  The stock essentially got there intraday earlier in March, but I didn’t take advantage.  Now the stock is over $350.  So disappointing to miss my entry chance.  Maybe an opportunity will present itself again.  For now, COST will be moved off the watchlist.

Similar to my Portfolio stocks noted above, my watchlist of non-Portfolio stocks from February all moved up in price in March, too.

This included Flowers Foods (FLO), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), and Xcel Energy (XEL).  FLO and XEL are out of my price range at this point.  However, BMY is still attractive to me despite creeping up in price compared to last month.

 

Overall, whether it be for Portfolio or non-Portfolio stocks, I’m inclined to hold off with regard to purchasing and wait for a pullback.  If I do add, it will probably be in smaller chunks.

 

Thoughts?

Do you continue to make regular purchases for your portfolio despite the rising prices?  Or are you stockpiling some cash in preparation for the next stock market downturn?  Please share your thoughts!