Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,626 shares during the period. Tesla makes up 0.7% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Tesla were worth $26,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in Tesla by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 263.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $389.10 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $401.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 106.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30. Tesla, Inc. has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total transaction of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,727,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 617,886 shares of company stock valued at $212,451,751 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on TSLA. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.84.

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.