Primecap Management Co. CA Has $1.84 Billion Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA has reduced its **Tesla** holdings by **6.3%**, selling **473,525 shares**, and now owns **7,082,210 shares**, representing **1.5%** of its total portfolio.
• Insider directors, including **Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis** and **Kimbal Musk**, sold a combined **569,160 shares** of **Tesla**, indicating a significant **decrease** in their ownership stakes.
• Several hedge funds have either increased or decreased their positions in **Tesla**, with **66.20%** of the company now owned by institutional investors.

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,082,210 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 473,525 shares during the period. Tesla accounts for approximately 1.5% of Primecap Management Co. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 0.22% of Tesla worth $1,835,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 1.5% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Tesla by 322.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,891,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,536,519 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $9,908,828,000 after purchasing an additional 158,697 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 13,109,178 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $5,294,010,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,449 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 855,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $305,632,276.20. This represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total value of $32,732,635.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,463,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $522,940,195.80. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 606,724 shares of company stock worth $215,376,831 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $2.36 during trading on Thursday, hitting $322.27. 66,349,220 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 91,453,784. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 186.28, a P/E/G ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 2.33. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.04 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $319.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.84.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%. The firm's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on TSLA shares. China Renaissance reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Baird R W cut shares of Tesla from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.31.

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.