Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,636,402 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 45,964 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for approximately 0.4% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.14% of Tesla worth $1,872,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Tesla by 36,790.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,497,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 4,963.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,356,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 55,181.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,382,674 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,769,899,000 after buying an additional 4,374,746 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. New Street Research upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Tesla from $550.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Glj Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.18.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock opened at $241.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $775.71 billion, a PE ratio of 118.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $273.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.21. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is 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.