Driehaus Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,074 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.02, for a total transaction of $1,776,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,084 shares in the company, valued at $6,833,325.68. This represents a 20.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,623 shares of company stock valued at $114,400,501 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $20.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $318.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 112,500,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,309,090. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 156.07, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.41 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The company's 50-day moving average is $258.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $327.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $404.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $19.05 target price (down from $24.86) on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Argus set a $410.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.