Vident Advisory LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC significantly increased its stake in Tesla, Inc. by 98.2% to approximately $50.99 million, now holding 196,750 shares, which constitutes about 0.7% of its investment portfolio.
• The electric vehicle producer reported sales of $22.50 billion for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations and showing an 11.8% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Tesla's market capitalization stands at $1.12 trillion, with an average target price of $303.31 and a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts.

Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 98.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,750 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 97,464 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up 0.7% of Vident Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $50,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 86.3% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in Tesla by 79.2% in the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its position in shares of Tesla by 1,616.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 103 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,777,200. This trade represents a 25.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. This trade represents a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 150,564 shares of company stock worth $51,792,190. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock traded down $12.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $333.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 80,898,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,110,896. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 192.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 2.33. Tesla, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.97 and a 12-month high of $488.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $323.59 and a 200 day moving average of $302.91. 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 posted its 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 business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TSLA shares. William Blair downgraded Tesla from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.31.

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.