NEW YORK (Reuters) - David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital sold out of its profitable stock holdings in UK telecommunications company Vodafone Group Plc (>> Vodafone Group plc) and German chemical business Evonik Industries AG (>> Evonik Industries AG), according to a letter sent to investors Friday and seen by Reuters.

The letter also noted that the hedge fund firm had established a new "medium-sized long position" in an unnamed utility sector company over the third quarter.

A spokesman for New York-based Greenlight declined to comment.

Greenlight's funds returned 3.4 percent net of fees in the third quarter, bringing the year-to-date return to 3.8 percent, both below stock market benchmarks.

The letter also included a swipe at Elon Musk and his Tesla Motors (>> Tesla Motors Inc), saying that "complacent shareholders have been willing to look past years of over-promising and under-delivering from a promotional CEO."

A spokesman for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not clear if Greenlight has a short position in the electric car company.

(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Bernard Orr)

By Lawrence Delevingne

Stocks treated in this article : Tesla Motors Inc, Evonik Industries AG, Vodafone Group plc