Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd Invests $167.82 Million in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 415,550 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock, valued at approximately $167,816,000. Tesla comprises 10.3% of Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GS Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Tesla by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA opened at $235.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $758.65 billion, a PE ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.02. Tesla, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Capital upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $321.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

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.