Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Roth Capital raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.31.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock opened at $400.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 196.22, a PEG ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $401.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,761,200. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,727,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 553,386 shares of company stock valued at $196,305,796. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,356,401 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $15,469,792,000 after buying an additional 1,022,589 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,741,075 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,473,008,000 after acquiring an additional 828,308 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 13.7% during 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 valued at $6,377,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,763 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,545,824 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,328,884,000 after purchasing an additional 301,968 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 11.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,201,212 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,192,203,000 after buying an additional 1,294,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.