Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Up 22.7 %

TSLA opened at $272.20 on Thursday. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $290.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $323.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $875.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 133.43, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $27,590,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TSLA. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eight 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.40.

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.