Vest Financial LLC Has $4.87 Million Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 17.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,066 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $4,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finley Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Tesla by 692.6% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $91,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Down 6.3 %

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $328.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $408.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total value of $39,792,803.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,095,100. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 three months, insiders have sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on TSLA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted 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. Bank of America cut Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $490.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.