Tesla, Inc. $TSLA Shares Bought by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Key Points

• Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its Tesla holdings by 11.5% during the second quarter, now owning 19,318 shares worth approximately $6.14 million.
• Several other institutional investors also raised their positions in Tesla, with notable increases from Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC at 55.6% and Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. at 10%.
• Despite strong institutional interest, Tesla's stock price is currently down 0.7% and the company reported a missed quarterly EPS estimate of $0.40, below the forecast of $0.43.

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,318 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $6,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 2,038 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 114,845 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $36,482,000 after buying an additional 7,897 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. now owns 2,716 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 2,410 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 55.6% in the 2nd quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total transaction of $25,360,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at $269,260,263.08. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902 over the last 90 days. 19.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $435.54 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $212.11 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 251.76, a PEG ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 2.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $373.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $326.64.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TSLA shares. China Renaissance reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $349.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $483.00 target price on shares of Tesla and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $349.37.

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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