Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,075 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,242,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 36,790.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,497,526,000 after buying an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Tesla by 4,963.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after buying an additional 5,719,466 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 55,181.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,382,674 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,769,899,000 after buying an additional 4,374,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 194.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,486,739 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,215,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,910 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA opened at $239.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $770.13 billion, a PE ratio of 117.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $305.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $323.56. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLA. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $312.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 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.