VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Takes Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,127 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth 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 worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Finley Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their price target on Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.25.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $225.31 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $344.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $320.61. 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 company has a market cap of $724.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.