Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 928,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 6,364 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for about 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $374,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 1,248.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position 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 valued at $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction 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 approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “top pick” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.81.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $248.09 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $357.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $797.99 billion, a PE ratio of 121.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Tesla Company 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.