Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,889 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $10,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Tesla by 692.6% in the third quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 214 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finley Financial LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Tesla by 136.4% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $355.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.48, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $407.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.44.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TSLA shares. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total transaction of $2,481,010.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,226,491.76. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,095,100. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.