Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,735 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 388 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $2,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Tesla in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Kessler Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 193 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $227.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the company from $147.00 to $197.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Tesla from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $265.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $204.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 66,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.96, for a total transaction of $14,597,425.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $18,696,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $113,236.50. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 66,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.96, for a total value of $14,597,425.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,696,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.10% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 3.2 %

TSLA stock traded down $7.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $213.21. The company had a trading volume of 59,212,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,373,750. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $278.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.17. The company has a market capitalization of $681.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.16, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 2.31.

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