In late June, Panasonic Corp sold its holding in Tesla for $3.61 billion, it had bought the shares in 2010 at $21.15 or $30 million.

In recent times we have seen more and more companies taking shares in partners to help them get started and grow. Panasonic is in the battery making industry and it made sense to buy shares in the partner company.

In an article in Reuters, the Board felt given Tesla’s growth, there is no need to continue to own the shares however the partnership with Tesla remains.

Sometimes one of the assets of large companies is their investment portfolio. Tesla shares was bought at $21.15 and held on the books at that price, the shares were sold for in the $670 range and the money will be used for growth purposes.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, companies that generate profits on a year to year basis often times have an investment portfolio of companies they do business with or they admire and generally they are passive investments. Unless there are corporate takeover winds and the company is ensuring over 50% is in friendly hands. One does not buy a company for its investments, but examining them can give you more reason to hold the stock. You might ask what is the policy of the investments the company has or what does it not buy?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.