Strs Ohio Buys New Position in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has made a new investment in Tesla, acquiring 792,928 shares valued at approximately $205.5 million, making Tesla the 16th largest position in its portfolio.
• Several large investors have increased their holdings in Tesla during the first quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest in the stock.
• Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock, representing a 14.69% decrease in his position, while overall insider sales amounted to over $44 million in the last quarter.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 792,928 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock, valued at approximately $205,495,000. Tesla accounts for 0.9% of Strs Ohio's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 1.9% during the first quarter. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Solutions 4 Wealth Ltd increased its position in shares of Tesla by 2.0% during the first quarter. Solutions 4 Wealth Ltd now owns 1,815 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Tesla by 3.4% during the first quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 1,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 18.4% during the first quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 245 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 3.8% during the first quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total transaction of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,314,500. This represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,606 shares of company stock worth $51,999,662. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $440.00 price target on Tesla in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Sunday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.00.

Tesla Trading Up 7.4%

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded up $27.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $395.94. 167,593,971 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 71,704,616. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 228.87, a PEG ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.11 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The company's 50-day moving average is $328.89 and its 200-day moving average is $303.57.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tesla 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.