Trexquant Investment LP Buys 29,880 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 139,409 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,880 shares during the period. Tesla accounts for about 0.7% of Trexquant Investment LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Tesla were worth $56,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares during the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth $687,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth about $246,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at about $875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Tesla Trading Down 1.7 %

TSLA opened at $259.16 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $317.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $323.21. The firm has a market cap of $833.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark began coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Glj Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $317.75.

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.