Blue Trust Inc. Lowers Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 38.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,365 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 10,039 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $6,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 12.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after acquiring an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock opened at $355.84 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 174.43, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $406.31 and its 200 day moving average is $308.78. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Roth Mkm raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Roth Capital raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.