Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 20,291,139 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Tesla, acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares in the 1st quarter, raising its total holdings to 26,590,525 shares.
• Tesla reported earnings of $0.40 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations of $0.43, and its quarterly revenue was down 11.8% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors currently own 66.20% of Tesla's stock, with several large firms adjusting their holdings, including new positions by Susquehanna Fundamental Investments.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 322.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up approximately 1.1% of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.83% of Tesla worth $6,891,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rinkey Investments raised its position in shares of Tesla by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Rinkey Investments now owns 860 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 1,174 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Management Associates Inc raised its position in shares of Tesla by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 1,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total transaction of $32,732,635.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,463,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $522,940,195.80. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 606,724 shares of company stock worth $215,376,831 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TSLA. Roth Mkm dropped their price target on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair cut Tesla from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.31.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA traded up $11.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $319.91. 78,040,129 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 91,306,952. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $319.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $309.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 184.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $191.48 and a 52 week high of $488.54.

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

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.