Wright Investors Service Inc. Acquires 1,084 Shares of Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 8.5% during Q2, now owning 13,817 shares valued at approximately $4.39 million, making Tesla the firm’s 19th largest investment.
• Over the past 90 days, insiders sold a total of 208,606 shares worth $77.36 million, with notable sales from SVP Xiaotong Zhu and Director James R. Murdoch, reducing their ownership percentages by 29.59% and 14.69%, respectively.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Tesla, with one maintaining an "outperform" rating while others have downgraded it; the consensus price target for the stock stands at $317.70.

Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,817 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for approximately 1.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $4,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TSLA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Tesla by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $35,509,000 after acquiring 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 in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $346,000. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Tesla by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,263 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $326.74.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. The trade was a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,606 shares of company stock worth $77,360,462. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $433.64. 40,788,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,012,313. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 250.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.11 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $343.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.87.

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

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.