Sepio Capital LP Cuts Stake in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP has decreased its holdings in Tesla by 11.2%, selling 6,426 shares and now owning 51,167 shares valued at $13.26 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Tesla, with Rise Advisors LLC raising its stake by 12.8% and Pacific Center for Financial Services by 44.7% during the first quarter.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" for Tesla, with target prices ranging from $175.00 to $390.00, averaging around $303.31 according to recent evaluations.

Sepio Capital LP lowered its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,167 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 6,426 shares during the period. Tesla comprises 1.0% of Sepio Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Tesla were worth $13,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $35,509,000 after buying an additional 9,293 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Tesla by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $346,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,367,000. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla 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 transaction, the director directly owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total transaction of $1,171,560.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 128,606 shares of company stock worth $44,724,662 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TSLA. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 30th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.00.

Tesla Trading Up 6.0%

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $21.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $368.81. 102,957,262 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 70,266,856. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $327.25 and a 200 day moving average of $302.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.11 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 213.18, a PEG ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 2.06.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.