Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,230 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the period. Tesla comprises about 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $13,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apexium Financial LP boosted its position in Tesla by 736.8% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 24,954 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 21,972 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,940 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Tesla by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 21,772 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 46,414 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,533,000 after purchasing an additional 6,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $113,236.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.86, for a total value of $17,322,306.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,772,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $113,236.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at $11,350,652.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Tesla Stock Up 3.0 %

TSLA stock traded up $7.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $248.23. The company had a trading volume of 155,292,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,046,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $791.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 2.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.76. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $299.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Tesla had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business had revenue of $21.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.15 billion. Analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $265.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Tesla from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.58.

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.