Tesla, Inc. $TSLA Position Reduced by Gradient Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Gradient Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Tesla by 7.5%, now owning 17,747 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million, making it the 18th largest position in their portfolio.
• Despite a recent increase in stock trading of 4%, Tesla reported lower than expected earnings with an EPS of $0.40, missing estimates by $0.03, and a revenue decline of 11.8% year-over-year.
• Insiders, including SVP Xiaotong Zhu and Director James R. Murdoch, sold significant shares amounting to around $32 million in recent transactions, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions.

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,747 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 1,445 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for 1.7% of Gradient Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $5,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TSLA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 11.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its holdings in Tesla by 10.4% in the first quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 6,477 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. increased its holdings in Tesla by 10.8% in the first quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 1,249 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $440.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 254.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 2.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $352.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $314.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.11 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,314,500. This represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,606 shares of company stock worth $77,360,462 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Sunday, July 27th. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $332.33.

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.

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