Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,681 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 88.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,581 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,681 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 29,979 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $12,107,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares in the last quarter. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $1,232,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $3,958,000. BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $775,000. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.93.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 5.6 %

Tesla stock opened at $272.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $875.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.36, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $327.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.69.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current 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.