Emerging as one of the most-liked stocks for foreign funds, mortgage giant HDFC has seen overseas investors raising their stake in the company to a record high of nearly 78 per cent during the quarter ended September 2014.

The mortgage financier has also become the first listed Indian company among 30 Sensex firms to have over 75 per cent shareholding by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

Cumulative FII holdings in the company rose to 77.85 per cent in the July-September quarter this year from 73.09 per cent in the three months ended September last year, according to data from stock exchanges.

In the April-June quarter of 2014, FIIs’ holding in HDFC stood at 77.36 per cent.

Moreover, the shareholding of overseas players or FIIs in HDFC has been steadily rising since September last year.

The rise of overseas shareholding in the mortgage lender, one of the highest among the country’s 30 listed blue-chip companies, coincides with overall bullishness shown by foreign entities in the Indian stock market.

According to market experts, overseas investors have shown interest in HDFC because of the smart returns given by the company.

In May 2012, HDFC’s board had approved raising the FII limit in the company to 100 per cent.

During the July-September quarter, HDFC shares surged by 6.25 per cent, as against a 4.78 per cent gain in BSE’s benchmark Sensex.

In the same period, FIIs have invested more than Rs 23,000 crore in Indian equities on the back of ongoing reform initiatives taken by the Central Government.

Besides, the overall holding of institutional investors also rose to 88.17 per cent during July-September this year from 88.01 per cent at the end of June 30, 2014, mostly on account of additional share purchases by FIIs.

The domestic institutional holdings stood at 10.32 per cent as on September 30, 2014, down from 10.65 per cent in April-June quarter of 2014.