BLB&B Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,846 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finley Financial LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Tesla by 692.6% during the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $328.50 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $408.14 and a 200 day moving average of $305.46. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 161.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

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 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,095,100. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total transaction of $2,481,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,226,491.76. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Phillip Securities cut Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $321.71.

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.