Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 1.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price was up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $287.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $273.37 and last traded at $272.92. Approximately 40,965,688 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 94,426,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $269.19.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on TSLA. William Blair started coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.00.

Insider Activity

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Panoramic Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 184.7% in the first quarter. Panoramic Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,744 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its position in Tesla by 21.5% in the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 2,377 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 23,831 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,189,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,284 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 6,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 759,157 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $133,452,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $871.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 2.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $230.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS 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.