Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,983 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 73,340 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up 1.5% of Employees Retirement System of Texas' portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Tesla were worth $172,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $98,211,134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $24,566,217,000 after buying an additional 1,655,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Up 6.9%

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $23.55 on Tuesday, reaching $362.89. 118,443,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 97,589,424. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $279.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $333.38. The company has a market cap of $1.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 177.89, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $167.41 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Tesla from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.97.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

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

Tesla Company 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.