Becker Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Becker Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,991 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $2,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Gebbia acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $256.31 per share, with a total value of $1,025,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,053,690.41. The trade was a 3,603.60 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 486,618 shares of company stock valued at $155,887,459 over the last quarter. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA traded up $6.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $287.21. 113,968,586 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 95,780,628. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.41 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The company has a market cap of $925.09 billion, a PE ratio of 140.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $258.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Tesla from $404.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $450.00 target price on shares of Tesla and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $370.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $287.46.

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.