Wedbush managing director and Tesla (TSLA) bull Dan Ives contends it’s not simply day-traders blinded by the magic of Elon Musk gobbling up shares of the electrical automobile maker.The whales are within the combine as properly.“I think there is a misperception on retail investors and institutions [on Tesla]. I have talked to more institutional investors the last six months on Tesla than the last six years because the story has changed fundamentally, and profitability wise,” Ives informed Yahoo Finance’s The First Commerce. “You need to start focusing on the market [electric vehicle] and on the indexing of the S&P 500 (^GSCP). It has changed the game a bit. Of course there is retail [investor] momentum, no doubt. I think there is a bit of a misperception that it’s all retail. I believe there is a strong institutional support there because there has been a change in the fundamental story of Tesla.”The pure information on Tesla suggests Ives has some extent.Tesla’s stock is about 58% institutionally owned, in accordance with Yahoo Finance Premium information. Whereas not as excessive as most firms with a equally outsized market cap ($443 billion), Tesla does have extra institutional possession than auto rival Ford (F) (55%, per Yahoo Finance Premium information).In the meantime, Tesla’s high 5 institutional shareholders is a who’s who of credibility (in accordance with Bloomberg information): Ballie Gifford, Capital Group, Vanguard, BlackRock and FMR. Smaller establishments corresponding to ARK Make investments Administration (a mega Tesla bull), Authorized & Normal Group and Northern Belief have all added to their Tesla holdings since June 30, in accordance with regulatory filings.The unconvinced institutional crowd may very well be lured into Tesla quickly. Shares of Tesla rose 8% to $479 on Monday because the stock cut up five-for-one, making it cheaper (although valuation/market cap stays the identical) on paper to become involved with Tesla forward of a possible addition to the S&P 500.For his half, Ives is staying bullish on Tesla even because the stock has skyrocketed this yr. Ives has a bull case price goal on Tesla of $700 a share.“If you miss the Tesla story, especially from an indexing perspective, you’re trying to figure out what font to use on your resume,” Ives remarked.Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and co-anchor of The First Commerce at Yahoo Finance. Comply with Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.Comply with Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Fb, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.