Ascent Group LLC Acquires 12,509 Shares of Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Tesla, Inc. by 86.4%, owning 26,988 shares worth approximately $6.99 million after acquiring an additional 12,509 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions include Director James R. Murdoch selling 120,000 shares at an average price of $350.29, leading to a significant decrease in his ownership.
• Tesla's recent quarterly earnings report indicated a revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, missing analyst expectations, and showing an 11.8% year-over-year decline.

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 86.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,988 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after buying an additional 12,509 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $6,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $63,983,418,000 after buying an additional 3,694,524 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 322.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $6,891,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,536,519 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $9,908,828,000 after purchasing an additional 158,697 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,174,941 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $4,710,218,000 after purchasing an additional 849,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 16,771,882 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $4,482,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,814,610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on TSLA shares. China Renaissance reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $349.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, July 25th. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday. Baird R W lowered Tesla from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Tesla Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $346.97. The stock had a trading volume of 53,656,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 71,396,432. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $325.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.26. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.11 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 200.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.08 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Tesla's revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 14.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,889,556. The trade was a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,606 shares of company stock valued at $49,581,812. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

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.