HTLF Bank Acquires New Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,103 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 692.6% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finley Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 136.4% during the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total transaction of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Capital upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock opened at $336.51 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $407.68 and a 200-day moving average of $306.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 164.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

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.