Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,323,720 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,385 shares during the quarter. Tesla comprises about 1.3% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $534,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its stake in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday. Guggenheim cut their price target on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday. Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $225.31 on Wednesday. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $320.61. The company has a market capitalization of $724.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.45, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

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.