Ballast Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Ballast Inc. cut its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 895 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 322.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,891,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the first quarter worth $3,247,619,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 27,378.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,542,960,000 after purchasing an additional 9,776,607 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $63,983,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,694,524 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Tesla from $315.00 to $285.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Sunday, July 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.31.

Tesla Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $329.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $194.67 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 190.53, a P/E/G ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 2.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $318.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.71.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 855,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total transaction of $32,732,635.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,940,195.80. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 602,724 shares of company stock valued at $214,176,831. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tesla 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.