Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Tesla by 88.6% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings down to 956 shares valued at $248,000.
• Tesla's recent quarterly earnings showed a miss on EPS estimates at $0.40, with revenues of $22.50 billion, falling short of expectations of $23.18 billion.
• A significant insider selling trend was reported, with executives selling a total of 606,724 shares worth over $215 million in the last ninety days.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 88.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 956 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 7,419 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TSLA. Rinkey Investments lifted its stake in Tesla by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Rinkey Investments now owns 860 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc raised its holdings in Tesla by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 1,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $4,857,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,777,200. The trade was a 25.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 606,724 shares of company stock worth $215,376,831 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tesla Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $309.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $997.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 2.33. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.00 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $321.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on TSLA shares. Argus reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, June 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Tesla from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.31.

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.

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