HTLF Bank Makes New Investment in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,103 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its position in shares of Tesla by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 22,468 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,073,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Essex LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,014 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at about $326,000. Finally, Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $336.51 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $407.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.23. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 164.96, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total transaction of $35,254,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,903,716. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 635,776 shares of company stock worth $231,335,112. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Tesla from $226.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.50.

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.