Tesla, Inc. $TSLA Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Tesla, Inc. by 1.2%, now owning 146,510 shares valued at approximately $46.54 million, making it the firm's 13th largest holding.
• A number of large investors, including First Merchants Corp and Alaska Wealth Advisors, have recently increased their stakes in Tesla, indicating ongoing interest in the stock despite some sales by insiders.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Tesla, with Bank of America raising its target from $305 to $341, while others set targets as high as $600, reflecting a mixed outlook on the company's future stock performance.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after selling 1,737 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for about 1.3% of Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Tesla were worth $46,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Merchants Corp raised its holdings in Tesla by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 2,413 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Alaska Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Tesla by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Alaska Wealth Advisors now owns 985 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. KWB Wealth raised its holdings in Tesla by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 1,381 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 976 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,107 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,622,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Tesla from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Melius assumed coverage on Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $520.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday. Finally, Glj Research reiterated 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, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $363.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 202,606 shares of company stock worth $75,588,902. Company insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock opened at $447.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $335.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 258.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 2.08. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.11 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Tesla's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share 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.

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