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Commerzbank, the big German lender, increased its bet on Elon Musk’s electric-car company last quarter, part of a series of investments that stand to benefit as automation and digitization spread through the economy.

The bank nearly doubled its investment in Tesla stock (ticker: TSLA), initiated a position in Uber Technologies (UBER), and bought more Microsoft (MSFT) and Mastercard stock (MA). The company made the disclosures in a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Commerzbank (XE:CBK) didn’t respond to a request for comment on its stock trades.

Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank (DB), Germany’s two largest publicly traded banks by assets, scuttled a potential merger in April. “After careful analysis it became apparent that such a combination would not be in the interests of either bank’s shareholders or other stakeholders,” Commerzbank said.

During the three months through the end of June, Commerzbank scooped up 350,258 Tesla shares, lifting its holdings to 772,972 shares of the electric-car maker. Tesla stock has lost 31.5% of its market value this year through Friday’s close, while the S&P 500 has surged 20.7%.

Shares have been pressured by worries of lower demand and increased regulatory scrutiny. Tesla stock slid last week after management disclosed disappointing second-quarter earnings.

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Tesla stock has inched up 2.0% so far in July, compared with a 2.9% rise in the S&P 500.

Commerzbank also took a stake in Uber in the quarter, ending June with 213,940 shares of the ride-hailing company. Uber stock closed at $44.52 on Friday, just below its $45 May initial-public-offering price. However, it has slipped 4.0% in July. Barron’s has noted that Uber has had a rough ride since its IPO.

The German bank bought 447,343 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, lifting its investment to 1.71 million. Microsoft stock has followed a strong 2018 with 39.1% rise so far this year; shares are up 5.5% in July alone. The software giant has been reporting strong earnings.

Mastercard stock, a beneficiary of the rise of e-commerce, is doing even better than Microsoft’s this year. Shares have surged 49.5% year to date, and have logged a 6.6% gain since the end of the second quarter. Earnings for the card giant have been strong, and analysts believe Mastercard stock could rise further. Commerzbank added 155,249 Mastercard shares in the second quarter, ending June with 815,558 shares.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write toEd Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow @BarronsEdLin.