Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 1,098 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in Tesla, Inc. by 1.4%, acquiring an additional 1,098 shares, bringing its total holdings to 81,787 shares, valued at $21.2 million.
• In recent insider trading, Tesla's CFO sold 2,000 shares for $600,000, and an SVP sold 15,000 shares for approximately $4.86 million, reflecting significant decreases in their stock positions.
• Tesla reported earnings of $0.40 per share, missing analysts' estimates, with revenue of $22.5 billion, down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,787 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Tesla accounts for about 1.3% of Empirical Finance LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $21,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rinkey Investments lifted its holdings in Tesla by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rinkey Investments now owns 860 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 1.9% during the first quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc lifted its position in Tesla by 3.4% during the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,777,200. The trade was a 25.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,889,556. This trade represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 835,509 shares of company stock worth $279,420,485. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $316.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 182.69, a PEG ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 2.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $324.70 and a 200 day moving average of $314.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during 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%. Tesla's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair cut shares of Tesla from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $137.00 target price on shares of Tesla and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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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