Tesla Inc. TSLA shares have lost about 42% in the year-to-date period. Undeterred by the sell-off, certain members of the U.S. Congress have been trading the stock in recent months, according to data provided by Capitol Trades, a website tracking trades by lawmakers.
What Happened: Since August, three lawmakers — Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif), Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY) and Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) — made 14 trades in Tesla sock with the value of the transaction potentially totaling up to $315,000, Capitol Trades database showed.
Members of Congress are required to report the size only as a range. Khanna executed the most number of trades during this three-month window. In late September, he bought stock worth between $15,000 and $50,000, and in October, he disposed of Tesla shares in two transactions, valued at $1,000-$15,000 each.
The biggest buy of recent months was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who bought Tesla shares worth $1 million to $5 million on March 17 with the trade reported four days after. The owner has been mentioned as her husband Paul Pelosi. The stake has not been offloaded since then.
Why It’s Important: Most analysts think Tesla stock is grossly undervalued following the recent sell-off. This current weakness presents an opportunity not seen since March 2020, Tesla bull Gary Black said this week.
As macroeconomic fundamentals improve, Tesla could be in for a big bounce, provided it can execute its strategy.
Separately, lawmakers have been receiving a lot of flak for trading, especially as they are privy to certain non-public information that could impact these stocks. The Pelosis were under fire for their Nvidia Corporation NVDA trades while Congress was discussing a bill that proposed funding for domestic R&D in the chip sector. This bill has since then been legislated.
Tesla closed Friday’s session down 7.55% at $204.99, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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