Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 143,552 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 930 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for about 0.9% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $57,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the third quarter worth $29,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Finley Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $293.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $943.49 billion, a PE ratio of 143.79, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $385.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.70.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,226,491.76. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total transaction of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200 in the last three months. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

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.