Allianz SE Acquires New Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Allianz SE bought a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 104,334 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $43,531,000. Tesla comprises approximately 1.1% of Allianz SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in Tesla by 1.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Capital upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.34.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Stock Down 3.5 %

Tesla stock opened at $263.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.68. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $847.71 billion, a PE ratio of 129.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS 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.