The largest public pension in the U.S. has made some major changes to its stock portfolio, selling shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA).
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The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as Calpers, cut in half its stake in Tesla, reducing its holdings of the stock to 4.9 million shares. The pension also reduced its stake in aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace (GE).
According to a form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the pension sold 718,713 GE Aerospace shares at the end of this year’s third quarter. The Calpers pension manages more than $520 billion of assets for the State of California.
Missing the TSLA Stock Rally
At the same time that it sold TSLA and GE stocks, Calpers bought 6.5 million more shares of legacy telecommunications company AT&T (T), raising its stake to 29.5 million shares. The pension also purchased 329,107 more Costco (COST) shares to end the third quarter, giving it a stake of 1.6 million shares.
The stocks of Costco and AT&T are each up more than 30% so far in 2024 and have outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index that has gained 25% this year. However, Calpers sold TSLA stock ahead of the current rally that has seen the share price rise 44% since Donald Trump won the U.S. election November 5.
Is TSLA Stock a Buy?
Tesla stock currently has a consensus Hold rating among 34 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 11 Buy, 14 Hold, and nine Sell recommendations made in the last three months. The average TSLA price target of $232.64 implies 33.17% downside risk from current levels.
