PFG Advisors Cuts Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

PFG Advisors lessened its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,537 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Tesla were worth $4,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Windle Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $287,000. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,303 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. Warburton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $285,000. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $425,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Tesla by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 14,169 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,848 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TSLA shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, March 7th. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “top pick” rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 422,452 shares of company stock worth $153,659,530 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $230.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. 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 $741.66 billion, a PE ratio of 113.03, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $360.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.53.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Tesla 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.