Paragon Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Paragon Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 40.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,708 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 1,168 shares during the quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,600,000. Means Investment CO. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 37.7% in 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 last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.1% in 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 last quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 2,847 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvard Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,158,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock opened at $323.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 177.82, a PEG ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 2.47. The stock's 50 day moving average is $314.93 and its 200 day moving average is $330.48. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.00 and a twelve month high of $488.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,500. This trade represents a 33.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $4,857,150.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 833,509 shares of company stock worth $278,648,925 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TSLA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Baird R W cut Tesla from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, June 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.37.

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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