Generation Capital Management LLC Makes New $487,000 Investment in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Generation Capital Management LLC acquired 1,878 shares of Tesla, valued at approximately $487,000, during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including Manchester Capital Management LLC and Liberty Wealth Management LLC, significantly increased their stakes in Tesla, with Liberty Wealth raising its ownership by 1,230.8%.
• Tesla's recent earnings report showed a miss in earnings per share (EPS) and revenue forecasts, reflecting a 11.8% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,878 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock, valued at approximately $487,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,600,000. Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 37.7% in the 1st quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 23,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,323 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $5,823,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Tesla by 8.5% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 586,460 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $153,436,000 after buying an additional 46,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,158,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $315.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $4,857,150.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,889,556. This trade represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total transaction of $170,636,475.60. Following the sale, the director owned 855,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 719,119 shares of company stock valued at $246,186,549. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded down $5.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $302.63. The stock had a trading volume of 88,785,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,195,928. The firm has a market cap of $976.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 2.33. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $182.00 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $322.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.31.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%. The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Tesla's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

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.