Empire Life Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. has increased its stake in Tesla, Inc. by 118.3%, owning a total of 12,324 shares worth approximately $3,194,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including FMR LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their holdings in Tesla, reflecting a strong interest in the electric vehicle producer's stock.
• Despite missing earnings estimates for the last quarter with a net margin of 6.54% and revenue down 11.8% year-over-year, Tesla maintains a substantial market capitalization of $976.12 billion.

Empire Life Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 118.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,324 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,678 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $3,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 27,378.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,542,960,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776,607 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Tesla by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 54.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,464,765 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,193,728,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Tesla by 65.5% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,937,475 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,397,790,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TSLA. Cfra Research lowered Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,777,200. This represents a 25.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 855,394 shares in the company, valued at $305,632,276.20. This trade represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 606,724 shares of company stock valued at $215,376,831. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA traded down $1.08 on Thursday, hitting $318.83. 30,036,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,662,672. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.56. The company has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 184.31, a P/E/G ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 2.33. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.04 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Tesla's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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.