Clearbridge Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,932,700 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after purchasing an additional 394,673 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.06% of Tesla worth $780,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA acquired a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on TSLA. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a "reduce" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. New Street Research raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $317.75.

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Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock traded down $4.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $259.16. 133,362,829 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 93,380,718. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $833.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.04, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $321.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.01. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

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.