Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $345.16 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $361.93. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 2.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $274.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. Tesla’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 301,187 shares of company stock valued at $92,956,692. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TSLA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $265.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $231.06.

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.