Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 2,403 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC trimmed its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,199 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after selling 2,403 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Tesla by 1.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,602,120 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $41,064,917,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,748 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 9,849,425 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,731,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,329 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 21,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 5,902,416 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,167,970,000 after buying an additional 5,875,484 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its position in Tesla by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 5,314,395 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,051,613,000 after buying an additional 135,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Tesla by 9.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,959,699 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $981,443,000 after buying an additional 412,872 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TSLA. KGI Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $224.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $286.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $265.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.90.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock opened at $244.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $781.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 2.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $224.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.91. Tesla, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $271.00.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.10). Tesla had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $25.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 66,364 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.96, for a total transaction of $14,597,425.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,696,600. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 66,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.96, for a total value of $14,597,425.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,696,600. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,661 shares of company stock worth $16,663,291. Insiders own 25.10% 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.