Tesla’s (TSLA) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $404.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on TSLA. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, March 7th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.81.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $240.68 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $354.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $318.49. Tesla has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $774.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.98, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Tesla by 2.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at $287,000. Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 4.3% during the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,753 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.