Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,958,174 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 300,951 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $1,035,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Old Port Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth $236,000. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.9% during the second quarter. Wheelhouse Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 20.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 19,947 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 3,356 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 20.4% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 141,287 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $27,958,000 after buying an additional 23,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth $272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $418.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $298.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.36. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $429.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $287.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $257.36.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 522,886 shares of company stock valued at $171,393,831 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.