Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. Takes Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,211 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Tesla by 1,248.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 12.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after acquiring an additional 43,685 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.3% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $389.10 on Thursday. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.60, a PEG ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $401.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.63.

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 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. On average, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total value of $1,007,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,442,856.32. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 617,886 shares of company stock worth $212,451,751 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $280.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.84.

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.