Gary Zhou 
It appears that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has been getting some attention from institutional investors in recent months. As per SEC disclosures, over 200 hedge funds and asset management firms added new positions in Tesla last quarter. Prolific hedge funds such as Renaissance Technologies, Aristides Capital, and Adage Capital Partners in particular grew their Tesla holdings by a significant degree in Q3 2021.
Renaissance added over 610,000 Tesla shares to its holdings in Q3 2021, almost quadrupling its stake in the electric car maker. Adage, on the other hand, added a new position of 42,800 shares, similar to Aristides, which added a new position of 8,500 TSLA shares. The financial firms boosted their Tesla stake before the EV maker saw a meteoric rise in October, which resulted in the company’s market cap going beyond $1 trillion.
According to data-tracking firm WhaleWisdom, 211 hedge funds and asset management firms added new positions in Tesla in Q3 2021, while 116 firms closed out their positions in the EV maker. This was likely due to the company’s 43.5% surge in October, which was boosted in part by Hertz’s blockbuster order of 100,000 Teslas that would be used for its car rental fleet. Tesla has since pared some of those gains this month, especially as CEO Elon Musk continued to sell some of his TSLA stock.
Tesla shares have fallen 18.5% from its November 4 record high of $1,243.49 per share. Despite this, as well as headwinds like the ongoing supply chain and chip crisis, Tesla may still see some upside this fourth quarter. The company, after all, is expected to start operations at its German plant, Giga Berlin, by the end of the year, and the same is true for Gigafactory Texas, which is being built at an impressive pace. Gigafactory Shanghai, the company’s primary export hub, seems to be operating smoothly as well.
Seth Goldstein, an analyst at Morningstar, noted that institutional interest in Tesla is likely helping the company push its valuation. And despite the recent selloff in Tesla stock, Goldstein noted that “we still think the market is assuming Tesla becomes a top-five automaker globally in annual vehicles sold and is successful in launching its high-margin autonomous driving software subscription service.”
