Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 1.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were up 1.6% during trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $269.44 and last traded at $264.71. Approximately 63,385,668 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 94,209,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $260.48.

TSLA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. New Street Research downgraded Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $274.00 to $258.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,967,479.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,967,479.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,258,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Tesla by 263.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $845.65 billion, a PE ratio of 74.36, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 2.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 13.00%. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share 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.