Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 3,539 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,388 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after buying an additional 3,539 shares during the period. Tesla comprises 1.2% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Tesla were worth $18,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $317.75.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock opened at $282.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $909.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $323.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released 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%. Research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value 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 $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.