Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Director James R. Murdoch Sells 54,776 Shares of Stock

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) 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 sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Tesla Stock Up 7.6 %

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $248.09 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $797.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $357.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.03.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 100.1% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 53,332 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $21,538,000 after buying an additional 26,682 shares during the last quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,939,000. Lighthouse Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,507,000. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. Finally, Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TSLA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.81.

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.