Caxton Associates LLP Purchases New Holdings in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has acquired 1,811,000 shares of Tesla, making it the firm's largest position, valued at approximately $469 million, which accounts for about 16.3% of its portfolio.
• Various large investors have increased their stakes in Tesla during the first quarter, contributing to institutional ownership now at 66.20% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have set mixed ratings on Tesla, with a consensus target price of $303.31, while Benchmark has recently raised its target to $475 and Wedbush to $500.

Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,811,000 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock, valued at approximately $469,339,000. Tesla comprises about 16.3% of Caxton Associates LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Caxton Associates LLP owned 0.06% of Tesla as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Solutions 4 Wealth Ltd grew its position in shares of Tesla by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Solutions 4 Wealth Ltd now owns 1,815 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc grew its position in shares of Tesla by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 1,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 245 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,473,057.28. This represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,606 shares of company stock valued at $49,581,812. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TSLA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. China Renaissance reissued a "hold" rating and set a $349.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $440.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.00.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA traded up $0.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $347.79. The company had a trading volume of 71,891,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,794,297. The firm's fifty day moving average is $325.50 and its 200 day moving average is $302.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 201.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 2.06. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.11 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04.

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

Tesla Profile

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.