859 Shares in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Bought by Vertex Planning Partners LLC

Vertex Planning Partners LLC bought a new stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 859 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $273.13 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $324.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $878.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 133.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Benchmark began coverage on Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.12.

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.