Hickory Asset Management Inc. Invests $444,000 in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,100 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Tesla during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 692.6% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities cut Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.50.

Tesla Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $354.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 173.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $405.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $309.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54.

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

About Tesla

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.