Tesla, Inc. $TSLA Stake Raised by RNC Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Tesla, Inc. by 232.5%, acquiring 6,976 additional shares during the 1st quarter, bringing their total to approximately $2.586 million.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also significantly raised its Tesla position by 322.1%, now owning about $6.89 billion worth of shares, while other investors, including Nuveen LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, also made notable acquisitions.
• In insider trading news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla, worth over $42 million, reducing his ownership by 14.69%.

RNC Capital Management LLC raised its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 232.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,977 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after buying an additional 6,976 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 37.7% in the first quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 23,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,323 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $5,823,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $3,304,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 586,460 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $153,436,000 after buying an additional 46,087 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $4,857,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,889,556. The trade was a 18.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 143,606 shares of company stock valued at $49,581,812 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. China Renaissance reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $440.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.00.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $346.97. The company had a trading volume of 53,656,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 71,396,432. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 200.56, a P/E/G ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 2.06. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $325.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.26. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $212.11 and a one year high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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 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 for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

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.