Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 300,951 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,958,174 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 300,951 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.12% of Tesla worth $1,035,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $418.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $429.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.55, a PEG ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.36.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.36.

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.