BG Investment Services Inc. Takes $775,000 Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,918 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $775,000. Tesla comprises about 0.8% of BG Investment Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 12.1% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cowen raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.93.

Tesla Stock Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $287.95 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.04. 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 one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The firm has a market cap of $926.20 billion, a PE ratio of 141.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $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.