Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,051 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $263.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $321.33 and a 200-day moving average of $323.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $847.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TSLA. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark started coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.34.

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.