Simplify Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,189 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,531 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 4,189 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for 0.3% of Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $5,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Tesla by 2.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $955,052,000 after buying an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at approximately $280,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Nine research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.93.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $248.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $799.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $335.19 and a 200 day moving average of $320.44. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, 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 sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

About Tesla

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.