Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $62.27 Million Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 18.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 354,210 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 81,356 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $62,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of TSLA. Apexium Financial LP increased its position in shares of Tesla by 736.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Tesla by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,940 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Tesla by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 21,772 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 46,414 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,533,000 after purchasing an additional 6,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Tesla from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Tesla from $248.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.30.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $219.80. 94,604,145 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,509,544. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.91. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $278.98. The company has a market cap of $702.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.07, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 2.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $205.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.93.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.10). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 13.00%. The business had revenue of $25.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Tesla’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,772,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 65,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 25.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.