Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 285 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,988 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Tesla makes up approximately 0.9% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $13,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter worth $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Tesla by 692.6% during the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finley Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 136.4% in the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 0.0 %

Tesla stock opened at $355.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 174.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $406.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.79. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on TSLA. Barclays boosted their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating and set a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $326.50.

Tesla 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.