Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Bought by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,637,631 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,001 shares during the period. Tesla accounts for 1.5% of Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,065,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its position in Tesla by 12.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Tesla by 59.2% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $248.71 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $335.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $321.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $799.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.93.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.