Fidelity mutual funds cut Tesla-share holdings by 20%
Fidelity Investments mutual funds sold more than 1 million shares of Tesla Inc. in March, according to reports on the firm’s website.
Fidelity mutual funds sold a net of about 1.4 million shares of the electric-car company, cutting their combined stake by more than 20%. The sales left the funds holding a total of about 5.24 million Tesla shares at the end of March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Tesla, led by Elon Musk, had a first quarter marred by a shifting retail strategy, several pricing changes to its electric cars and a drop in deliveries. Tesla reported a bigger-than-expected loss when it posted first-quarter results April 24. The company also announced a major shakeup of its board.
Shares of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company fell 1.96% to $234.01 in New York on Wednesday. As of Tuesday, the shares had slid 28% for the year.
The largest sellers of the shares included the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, run by Sonu Kalra. It divested 406,600 Tesla shares, cutting its stake to 1.01 million shares as of March 29, according to the data compiled from the fund group’s website. The Fidelity Contrafund, managed by Will Danoff, sold 172,006 shares in March, leaving it with about 263,025 shares at that time. Fidelity OTC Portfolio Fund, overseen by Christopher Lin, sold 393,800 shares, equaling almost its entire stake.
A spokesman for Bostonbased Fidelity declined to comment.
The Fidelity funds have been steadily reducing their stakes in Tesla since the end of 2016, when they reported owning a combined 22 million common shares, the equivalent of a 13.7% stake, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
FMR, the parent for Fidelity Investments, reported holding about 9.1 million Tesla shares on a companywide basis at the end of last year, a 5.2% stake that made it the carmaker’s third-largest investor. FMR’s holdings don’t include those of several affiliates who report their stock ownership separately, according to its filings.