LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 63.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,790 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,860 shares during the quarter. Tesla makes up about 0.6% of LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $1,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $955,052,000 after buying an additional 194,796 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Tesla by 13.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 341,442 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $89,332,000 after purchasing an additional 39,961 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 6.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 4,260 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Tesla by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 8,712 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,279,000 after buying an additional 2,743 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $240.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 60,312,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 95,862,660. The stock has a market cap of $773.54 billion, a PE ratio of 118.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. 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 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Tesla from $320.00 to $275.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on Tesla and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $292.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,737,500. This trade represents a 12.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.