Wright Investors Service Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in 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. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 makes up 1.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $4,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 86.3% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in Tesla by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its holdings in Tesla by 59.7% during the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total value of $1,171,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total value of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at $244,162,988.99. This represents a 14.69% 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. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tesla Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $9.22 on Friday, reaching $426.07. 92,721,496 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 86,324,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $340.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.35. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 246.28, a PEG ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 2.06. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.11 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $22.50 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Tesla from $300.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.70.

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.