Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 394,673 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 25.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,932,700 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 394,673 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $780,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $955,052,000 after purchasing an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at $687,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Tesla by 9.6% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,208 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,247 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Tesla Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $263.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $847.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.19, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $321.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.34. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.34.

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.