Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in Tesla by 7.0%, selling 14,624 shares, leading to a remaining ownership of 194,360 shares valued at approximately $50.37 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Tesla, with Goldman Sachs lowering its target price from $315 to $285, while Bank of America raised its target to $341, reflecting a range of opinions on the stock's potential performance.
• Tesla's recent financial report indicated it had a net profit margin of 6.54% for the quarter, missing earnings expectations with reported earnings of $0.40 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.43.

TCW Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,360 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 14,624 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $50,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 27,378.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,542,960,000 after buying an additional 9,776,607 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 4,963.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,356,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,466 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 54.3% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,464,765 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,193,728,000 after purchasing an additional 2,978,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TSLA. Argus restated a "hold" rating 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 note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm dropped their target price on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.31.

Tesla Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded down $3.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $318.03. The stock had a trading volume of 47,257,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,939,242. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.85, a P/E/G ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 2.39. The business's fifty day moving average price is $323.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $313.10. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.00 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,395 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.12, for a total value of $30,809,717.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,300,200. This represents a 56.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,889,556. The trade was a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 723,119 shares of company stock worth $247,324,149 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

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.