Ascent Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,103 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $849,000. Tesla makes up 0.9% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Tesla by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.65.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA stock opened at $249.98 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $804.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $351.31 and its 200-day moving average is $319.51.

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

Tesla Company 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.