Bensler LLC Cuts Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Bensler LLC cut its holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,873 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 369 shares during the quarter. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $4,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Prospect Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. 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 note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Tesla Trading Up 1.1 %

Tesla stock opened at $404.60 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $403.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced 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 10.54%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $36,761,200. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 553,386 shares of company stock valued at $196,305,796. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

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.