Franchise Capital Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Franchise Capital Ltd lowered its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 63.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,680 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 18,325 shares during the period. Tesla makes up approximately 2.0% of Franchise Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Franchise Capital Ltd’s holdings in Tesla were worth $4,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $379.28 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 103.91, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $359.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.59.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total transaction of $1,007,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,856.32. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on TSLA. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $156.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Tesla in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $275.75.

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.