Empirical Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Empirical Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,815 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 86.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Tesla by 79.2% during the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in Tesla during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in Tesla by 59.7% during the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centennial Bank AR raised its stake in Tesla by 833.3% during the first quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 112 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $439.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $387.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $333.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 253.94, a PEG ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 2.08. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.11 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 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 the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. The trade was a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 202,606 shares of company stock worth $75,588,902. Insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on TSLA shares. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wedbush upped their price target 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, China Renaissance reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $363.54.

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.