Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 2,752,361 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 69.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,710,535 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,752,361 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up 0.8% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.21% of Tesla worth $2,709,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Riggs Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $465,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 187,434 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $76,199,000 after buying an additional 19,182 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in Tesla by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 4,137 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in Tesla by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 26,195 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $10,579,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,197,299 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,291,197,000 after purchasing an additional 64,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TSLA. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $317.75.

Tesla Stock Up 3.6 %

TSLA stock traded up $9.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $268.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,757,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,639,188. The company's fifty day moving average price is $317.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.21. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. 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 $863.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.60, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 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.