Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,938 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,627 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $15,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of Tesla stock traded up $10.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $295.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 163,425,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 99,671,998. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $167.41 and a one year high of $488.54. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $292.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $333.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $950.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Tesla from $314.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cfra Research lowered Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $370.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $294.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,737,500. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total transaction of $32,732,635.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,940,195.80. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 870,721 shares of company stock worth $286,248,728 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.