Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares shot up 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $418.88 and last traded at $413.29. 21,690,518 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 74,394,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TSLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Phillip Securities lowered Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $313.84.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $398.82 and a 200 day moving average of $294.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 111.39, a P/E/G ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total value of $1,007,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,856.32. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 617,886 shares of company stock valued at $212,451,751 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 35,611.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,892,160,000 after buying an additional 11,023,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Tesla by 194.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,486,739 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,215,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,910 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 13.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 52.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,344,526 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,921,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Tesla by 236.8% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,104,010 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $416,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

About Tesla

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.