Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Acquired by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp grew its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,261 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Tesla were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised 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 worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% during 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 last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th 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, Prospect Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $355.84 on Tuesday. Tesla, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $406.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.78. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 174.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on TSLA. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total transaction of $35,254,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200 in the last 90 days. 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.