U S Global Investors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

U S Global Investors Inc. reduced its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,840 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 4,530 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th 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, Vista Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock opened at $293.33 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 firm has a market capitalization of $943.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $385.35 and its 200 day moving average is $316.70.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,716. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TSLA shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.77.

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.