Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lowered its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 99.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 11,980 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $33,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 stake 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 worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.93.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA stock opened at $287.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $926.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $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 approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.