ARK Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• ARK Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in the first quarter, maintaining approximately 3.26 million shares, which still makes Tesla its largest position at around 8.3% of its portfolio.
• Tesla reported $0.40 EPS for the last quarter, missing expectations of $0.43 EPS, and had revenue of $22.50 billion, falling short of the anticipated $23.18 billion, which represents an 11.8% year-over-year decline.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Tesla, with ten issuing sell ratings, while the consensus target price has fluctuated, now standing at $302.75.

ARK Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,258,758 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 28,594 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for approximately 8.3% of ARK Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest position. ARK Investment Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Tesla worth $844,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 81,787 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $21,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 17.0% during the first quarter. Serenus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,537 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Allium Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the first quarter worth $1,517,000. Finally, Security Financial Services INC. raised its position in Tesla by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 1,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $316.06 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $324.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 182.69, a PEG ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 2.39. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $182.00 and a one year high of $488.54.

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

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total transaction of $32,732,635.32. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at $522,940,195.80. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $4,857,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares in the company, valued at $21,889,556. This trade represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 835,509 shares of company stock worth $279,420,485. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cfra Research cut shares of Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial lowered Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.75.

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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