Columbia Asset Management Reduces Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Columbia Asset Management trimmed its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,341 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Tesla were worth $945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $98,211,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $24,566,217,000 after buying an additional 1,655,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,325,850 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,996,871,000 after acquiring an additional 780,026 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,957,272 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,117,345,000 after acquiring an additional 159,508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TSLA. Oppenheimer reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.75.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $268.46 on Wednesday. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $314.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $323.48. The firm has a market cap of $863.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.60, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tesla Company 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.