Leverty Financial Group LLC Invests $224,000 in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Leverty Financial Group LLC has invested approximately $224,000 in Tesla by acquiring 706 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes a 14.69% reduction in shares held by Director James R. Murdoch, who sold 120,000 shares, and a 29.59% drop by SVP Xiaotong Zhu, who sold 20,000 shares.
• Tesla's stock currently trades at $444.72 with a market cap of $1.48 trillion and has experienced a significant decline in revenue, down 11.8% year-over-year.

Leverty Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 706 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 37.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,323 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $5,823,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Siren L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,332,000. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $3,304,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at about $594,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,162,988.99. This trade represents a 14.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,606 shares of company stock valued at $77,360,462 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Tesla Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $444.72 on Wednesday. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.11 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 257.06, a P/E/G ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 2.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $356.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $317.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSLA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Tesla from $300.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Baird R W raised Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Guggenheim reaffirmed 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 raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $320.00 to $548.00 in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $337.15.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TSLA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.