Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 18,171 Shares of Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 30.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,109 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after buying an additional 18,171 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Tesla were worth $24,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 37.7% in the first quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 23,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,984,000 after purchasing an additional 6,323 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,823,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. purchased a new position in Tesla during the 1st quarter worth $2,332,000. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at about $594,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total value of $42,034,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. This represents a 14.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. 19.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Tesla Price Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $453.25 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $366.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 261.99, a PEG ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. Tesla, Inc. has a one year low of $212.11 and a one year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (up from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Tesla from $345.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $344.40.

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.