Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 6,997 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,307 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 6,997 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $7,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 86.3% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in 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. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Tesla from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $314.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Cfra Research lowered shares of Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $298.37.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $323.63 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.00 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 177.82, a PEG ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $314.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $329.82.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 6.66%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $4,857,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 855,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 833,509 shares of company stock worth $278,648,925 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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