3 hot insider-trading reports: Tesla discloses Musk stock-selling risk

By Davit Kirakosyan

Investing.com -- Here are some of the biggest insider trading headlines that you may have missed on InvestingPro from this past week, including a new insider-trading disclosure at Tesla.

Tesla newly discloses Musk stock-selling risk

Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) latest 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said that CEO Elon Musk may need to sell shares to fulfill commitments related to investments, without specifically naming Twitter. In December 2022, Musk sold $3.6 billion in Tesla stock, bringing his total sales to $40B since late 2021, after promising not to sell more, leading to investor fears that he was using Tesla's stock as a source of funding for his takeover of Twitter. This selling activity contributed to the 70% decline in the stock price last year.

On Friday, a California jury dismissed a lawsuit that accused Elon Musk of violating securities laws with a 2018 tweet about taking Tesla private. The tweet stated, "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured." However, the deal never materialized, leading to the lawsuit. Musk testified at the trial that he was certain he had the funding in place to take the company private. He added that he did not mislead investors and was only hoping to keep them informed. Musk said he was confident about funding from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, to help take the company private.

Among recent analyst actions in Tesla, Berenberg upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold with a sliced price target of $200.00 (down from $255.00), noting that the company’s price cuts represent an “investment in growth” that it believes reflects Tesla’s cost leadership strategy.

Deutsche Bank also provided bullish comments on Tesla, reiterating a Buy rating and a $220 price target. The firm is encouraged by strong demand indicators, including reports of Tesla ramping up production at its Shanghai Gigafactory to meet rising demand after recent price cuts. January's preliminary wholesale data in China showed strong sales with 66,051 cars shipped, including 25,687 retail sales (+33% YoY, -39% MoM) and 40,364 exports (flat YoY, +190% MoM), indicating strong demand.

Shares closed more than 6% higher for the week.

Insider buying at LendingTree and Fresh Del Monte

In other insider-trading news, LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) CEO Douglas Lebda bought 18,268 shares, or $705,740 worth, at $38.30-$38.308.

The company’s Q4 earnings are scheduled to be announced on Feb 23 before the market opens.

Shares closed the week with more than a 14% gain.

And Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP) COO, Mohammed Abbas, bought 5,000 shares, or $132,473 worth, at $26.4946. The purchase was made by Abbas's spouse.

The company will report its Q4 earnings on Feb 21 before the market opens.

Shares gained nearly 7% this week.

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