Today, May 15, is the deadline for institutional investors to file their Form 13F for the quarter ended March 31. As filings from prominent fund managers have streamed in, retail investors have been taking notice — including investors in Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) stock.
In particular, investors have taken an interest to Soros Fund Management’s 13F, run by prominent billionaire George Soros. During the first quarter, Soros disclosed selling 10.76 million shares of Rivian, cutting down his stake by a significant 75%.
Shares of the electric vehicle (EV) company are currently down more than 20% year-to-date (YTD) and 45% for the past one year. In the same vein, Soros also completely exited his Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stake, selling out of 132,046 shares and calls against 200,000 shares. What’s going on?
Is George Soros Giving Up on RIVN Stock?
Following the Rivian sale, Soros still owns 3.57 million shares of RIVN stock with a market value of about $55.40 million. RIVN stock now accounts for 0.85% of his 13F portfolio and is his 38th largest position. Still, Soros also disclosed purchasing calls against 1 million shares of RIVN during the quarter, which is a brand new position.
In the land of EVs, Soros also reported selling out of Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) calls against 1 million shares and took a counter position by purchasing puts against 400,000 shares of LCID stock.
Soros’ activity during Q1 does not bode well for EVs. However, it wouldn’t be entirely appropriate to say that Soros has given up on RIVN stock, as he still owns shares and calls. When a fund manager sells out of a position, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have changed their view. One reason for a sale could be that the manager believes that the capital has better opportunities for appreciation elsewhere. Another reason is echoed in the words of Warren Buffett:
“We sell really when we think we’re reevaluating the economic characteristics of the business. We probably had one view of the long-term competitive advantage of the company at the time we’ve bought it, and we may have modified that. That doesn’t mean that we think the company is going into some [disastrous] period, or anything like that.”
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
