Westpac Banking Corp Grows Position in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 29.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,152 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,216 shares during the quarter. Tesla accounts for about 1.0% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Tesla were worth $14,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $35,509,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 12.9% during the first quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 5.8% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLA. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays restated a “negative” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 13th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Melius started coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $520.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $393.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total transaction of $7,275,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $3,473,057.28. This represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902 in the last three months. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $404.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 269.57, a PEG ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 2.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $429.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $360.78. Tesla, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.25 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.61%. Tesla’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.