Baillie Gifford & Co Increases Tesla TSLA close to 14 Millions Shares

Baillie Gifford, Tesla's largest outside investor (TSLA) has increased the number of shares in the company. In its previous registration on February 8, 2019, Baillie Gifford & Co announced the ownership of 13,234,382 shares. February 3, the company has filed an SC 13G/A form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing ownership of 13,826,979 shares of Tesla Motors, Inc. Shares difference indicating an increase of 4.48 percent, and now it share represents 7.67 percent ownership of the company.

Source: Fintel

Baillie Gifford, which manages about $221 billion in assets, has been silent for a long time about its stake in Tesla, but the company has always been ready to support the automaker. The decision to remain relatively calm, despite the unstable Tesla quarters in the past, was consistent with Baillie Gifford's commitment to long-term investments in companies at an early stage of development, but which are ready for significant growth. That is why The company has remained in its investments, while other institutional investors, such as TD Ameritrade, have reduced their shares.

"We totally ignore the market," Baillie Gifford partner, Stuart Dunbar, told Business Insider in February 2019. "It doesn't matter. We're not invested in the market — we're invested in a handful of great companies."

He continued: "The only thing we're interested in is whether these companies are making enough operational progress to meet long-term goals the way we expect them to."

The company acted out of her convictions, and, as it turned out, the its analysts were right. Tesla’s breakout - after a difficult two years for the stock - strengthened Baillie Gifford's belief in sticking with companies whose long-term prospects its analysis indicates are the best.

Meanwhile, the company's shares are being traded at a record high price of $907.78 per share. Bullish numbers were boosted by estimated deliveries, while the firm increased production at its Gigafactory in China.

Tesla shares closed at $780 yesterday, making it the second largest car manufacturer in the world at market value after Toyota.

This growth will be another blow to Tesla short sellers, who suffered a record $5.8 billion loss from market to market in January. Tesla is the largest short on the domestic market with a short interest of $14.28 billion, although rates against the company are currently declining.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said Tesla shares could exceed $1,000 next quarter.

“Of course, one should always keep in mind that a small correction in the stock price is the usual practice, but as long as the momentum doesn’t die, the potential is always strong,” he said.

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