ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 2,564 Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 47.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,002 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,564 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $334,000. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $343,000. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 6,713 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,668,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 49,017 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $12,180,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,950. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Tesla news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.17, for a total value of $2,143,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at $6,376,229.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,098 shares of company stock valued at $38,802,534 over the last ninety days. 25.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Tesla Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA traded down $2.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.05. 86,914,652 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,650,617. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 2.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.48. Tesla, Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.22 and a 12-month high of $299.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on TSLA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $189.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.70.

Tesla Company 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.