Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Holdings in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Tesla, Inc. by 4.8% during the second quarter, now owning 136,418 shares valued at approximately $43.3 million, making Tesla its 18th largest holding.
• Several hedge funds, including Goldman Sachs and Vanguard, have significantly boosted their stakes in Tesla, with Goldman Sachs increasing its position by 322.1% and Vanguard by 1.5%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Tesla, with multiple brokerages, including TD Cowen and Deutsche Bank, raising their price targets and reaffirming buy ratings for the stock.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,418 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after buying an additional 6,241 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up 0.9% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Tesla were worth $43,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $63,983,418,000 after buying an additional 3,694,524 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 322.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,891,201,000 after buying an additional 20,291,139 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,174,941 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,710,218,000 after buying an additional 849,091 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Tesla by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 16,771,882 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,482,789,000 after buying an additional 3,814,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,786,414 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,832,047,000 after buying an additional 2,211,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total value of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock worth $75,588,902 over the last three months. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TSLA. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Tesla from $374.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. CICC Research raised their price objective on Tesla from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Tesla from $345.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $349.37.

Tesla Trading Down 0.7%

Tesla stock opened at $435.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $373.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $326.64. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $212.11 and a one year high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 251.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 2.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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