Panasonic sold its shares in Tesla (TSLA) in the fiscal year ended March for about $3.61 billion, according to a Reuters report citing a Panasonic spokesperson. Tesla stock jumped 3.54% on Thursday to close at $679.82.
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Panasonic invested about $30 million to purchase 1.4 million Tesla shares for $21.15 a share in 2010. At the end of March 2020, the value of that stake had increased to $730 million.
Tesla has a battery supply arrangement with Panasonic and the stake sale will not affect the relationship, according to the report. But the report states that the sale comes as Tesla is diversifying its battery supply chain and that its relationship with Panasonic has been tense at times. Tesla has entered into battery supply deals with China’s CATL and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, Reuters reports. (See Tesla stock chart on TipRanks).
On June 23, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas maintained a Buy rating with a price target of $900 on Tesla stock. Jonas’ price target suggests 32.39% upside potential.
The analyst outlined eight reasons why Tesla should seek an aggressive expansion strategy. For example, since cars don’t ship like phones, Jonas noted the importance for Tesla to produce within key markets.
Additionally, the analyst believes that Tesla should aggressively reduce the price to prevent competition from big tech. Jonas further noted the importance of diversifying the supply chain outside of China.
Consensus among analysts is a Hold based on 9 Buys, 7 Holds, and 7 Sells. The average Tesla analyst price target of $620.70 implies 8.70% downside potential from current levels.
According to TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool, confidence in TSLA is currently Positive. The cumulative change in holdings across all 16 funds that were active in the last quarter was an increase of 229,100 shares.
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