Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 73,340 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,983 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after buying an additional 73,340 shares during the quarter. Tesla comprises approximately 1.5% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Tesla were worth $172,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Norges Bank bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 36,790.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $3,497,526,000 after buying an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Tesla by 4,963.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after buying an additional 5,719,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Tesla by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after buying an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total transaction of $33,673,167.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,466,850. This represents a 56.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.11, for a total transaction of $1,050,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,435,464.50. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 415,623 shares of company stock worth $116,650,831. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA traded down $5.99 on Wednesday, hitting $356.90. The company had a trading volume of 90,072,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,559,466. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.41 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $281.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $333.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $425.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a "reduce" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.97.

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.