DJ T. Rowe Price Funds Sold Lots of Tesla Stock in the First Quarter -- Barrons.com
By David Marino-Nachison
Several funds managed by one of Tesla's biggest shareholders cut their holdings of the electric car maker in the first quarter.
Money manager T. Rowe Price Group (TROW) was the second-largest institutional owner of Tesla stock (TSLA) at the end of 2018, holding some 8.9 million Tesla shares -- representing 5.17% of the outstanding stock.
While T. Rowe's overall Tesla holdings for the period ending March 31 won't be publicly available until next month, the company has recently released new data on its individual fund holdings.
According to those fund-specific reports and an analysis of data from Refinitiv's mutual fund ownership database, several T. Rowe funds cut their Tesla ownership in the first quarter -- with many selling out entirely.
The changes were previously reported by Reuters. A T. Rowe Price spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Barron's, as did a spokesman for Tesla.
The data offers a partial picture of changes to T. Rowe Price's Tesla holdings, which will be more completely detailed when the company makes its quarterly 13F filling with the SEC. That filing is expected in mid-May.
In total, 10 funds that held Tesla shares at the end of 2018 no longer did as of March 31, according to the Refinitiv data, while no funds opened new positions in the first quarter.
The T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund (PRGFX), which held about 2.13 million shares of Tesla at the end of 2018, sold its entire stake. And its Blue Chip Growth Fund's (TRBCX) holdings were cut from nearly 1.82 million shares to about 330,000. Both funds had added to their holdings in 2018.
Some T. Rowe Price funds grew their Tesla stakes, with the Science & Technology Fund (PRSCX) adding roughly 355,000 shares to bring its stake above 480,000.
Tesla stock was down 16% in the first quarter and is off about 18% this year so far as the broader S&P 500 has risen. Tesla shares were up about 1% in afternoon trading Thursday, to $274.01.
As of Dec. 31, T. Rowe's Tesla stake was the second largest among institutional owners, behind only Baillie Gifford, which held 7.66% of the shares outstanding as of Dec. 31. A top Baillie Gifford portfolio manager discussed Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk with Barron's in March.
Musk is Tesla's largest holder. He owns nearly 20% of the company's stock.
Email David Marino-Nachison at david.marino-nachison@barrons.com. Follow him at @marinonachison and follow Barron's Next at @barronsnext .
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 18, 2019 14:52 ET (18:52 GMT)
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