Empirical Finance LLC Sells 593 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Empirical Finance LLC cut its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 80,689 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for 1.9% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $32,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Tesla by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management raised its position in Tesla by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Tesla by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in Tesla by 126.7% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Tesla by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on TSLA shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,095,100. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 635,776 shares of company stock worth $231,335,112. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $336.51 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $407.68 and a 200 day moving average of $306.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.96, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.