Franklin Resources Inc. Has $3 Billion Holdings in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,737,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 368,493 shares during the quarter. Tesla comprises 0.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $2,996,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at $29,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. ESL Trust Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1,900.0% during the second quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC now owns 100 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 25,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.56, for a total transaction of $10,692,774.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,173,649.64. This trade represents a 56.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,264 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.03, for a total value of $898,875.92. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,106 shares in the company, valued at $7,188,625.18. The trade was a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,995 shares of company stock valued at $38,315,650. Insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Tesla

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Robust supplier results — CATL posted strong Q4 earnings and signaled healthy global battery demand, which investors view as a positive demand read?through for Tesla’s supply chain and EV sales outlook. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Energy affordability coalition — Tesla joined Alphabet/Google in a coalition (Utilize) to push grid efficiency and lower electricity costs, which could help Tesla Energy adoption and reduce TCO for EV buyers over time. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation around SpaceX IPO —talk of a large SpaceX IPO and potential Tesla?shareholder access is an indirect narrative for Musk?linked assets; it’s speculative and unlikely to change TSLA fundamentals in the near term. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Tesla advertising beyond X — the company has started paid ads on Facebook/YouTube for certain products; this could be read as proactive marketing to shore up demand or as a sign demand is slipping — outcome depends on subsequent sales trends. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO insider sale disclosed — Tesla CFO sold ~2,264 shares (filed in SEC), which is notable but not a large position relative to total outstanding shares; investors often watch for patterns rather than single transactions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Executive departures mounting — long?time finance VP Sendil Palani left after 17 years and other senior exits (including robotaxi backend director) raise execution risk ahead of major product rollouts. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Autonomy / safety regulatory risk — analyst reports and renewed NHTSA scrutiny of FSD (worsening safety metrics flagged) increase near?term legal, recall and liability risk that could weigh on shares. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition & delivery pressure — intensifying competition (BYD, NIO, new robotaxi entrants) and reports of falling UK car sales and recent delivery declines are pressuring growth expectations and valuation multiples. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro / supply concerns — investors remain worried about possible chip shortages, rising oil/pricing pressures and their effect on production costs and consumer buying; these themes are cited in several market notes as reasons investors are cautious. Read More.

Tesla Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $399.23 on Wednesday. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $498.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $422.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $424.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 369.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.89.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $24.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.75 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 4.86% and a net margin of 4.00%.The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TSLA. Barclays reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 29th. President Capital lowered their price objective on Tesla from $517.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Tesla from $307.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $406.84.

Tesla Profile

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean?energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery?electric vehicles and related services.