Stevens Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in Tesla by 2,346.9%, now holding 91,955 shares, making Tesla its largest investment worth approximately $23.83 million.
• Tesla's recent earnings report showed a decline, with EPS of $0.40 falling short of the expected $0.43 and revenues decreasing by 11.8% year-over-year.
• Analysts' ratings for Tesla are mixed, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and average target price of $301.26, indicating a cautious outlook among financial experts.

Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 2,346.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,955 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 88,197 shares during the period. Tesla accounts for about 5.9% of Stevens Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in Tesla were worth $23,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 86.3% during the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in Tesla by 79.2% during the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TSLA. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.75.

Tesla Trading Up 3.5%

TSLA traded up $10.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $316.06. The stock had a trading volume of 147,437,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,285,424. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 182.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 2.39. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.00 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $324.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.65.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total transaction of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 855,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $305,632,276.20. This represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 835,509 shares of company stock valued at $279,420,485. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.