The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) has apparently had a change of heart on its position in Tesla (TSLA), with the pension fund slashing its stake by more than 50% in the first quarter of 2023. The fire sale comes after the social insurance plan purchased nearly 600,000 shares in Q4 2022.
At the end of 2022 the CPP’s total stake in Tesla was close to 1,000,000 shares, more than double its position at the start of the year. However, last year was a volatile year however for the Texas-based automaker, with the stock dipping more than 60% during the course of the year. That volatility and downward trend could have played a part in the fund managers’ decision to trim its position by more than half.
According to a Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a filing which outlines the equity holdings of investment funds with over $100 million in assets, the CPP sold 505,673 TSLA shares in the first quarter of 2023, leaving the fund with 454,055 shares. (via Barron’s)
The filing doesn’t indicate the exact date or dates the shares were sold, but from January 3, 2023 to March 31, 2023, TSLA shares increased by 91.91%.
Tesla wasn’t the only EV automaker the CPP trimmed its stake in. The filing also shows the CPP sold 700,000 American depositary receipts (ADR, an instrument that allow investors to hold shares of a foreign public company) to be left with 1.6 million ADRs in NIO, sold 560,300 ADRs in XPeng to have 621,300 remaining, while completely divesting itself of all 536,797 ADRs in Li Auto.
On the other side, CPP increased its position in Apple, buying 255,943 shares in Q1 2023 for a total of 760,518 shares in the tech giant.
Disclaimer: Darryn is a TSLA shareholder and has no plans to change positions within 72 hours.
