Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $156.00 to $175.00. Guggenheim currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $374.36 and last traded at $370.70, with a volume of 26497610 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $357.93.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total transaction of $2,481,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $37,226,491.76. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total value of $39,792,803.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,095,100. This represents 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 420,577 shares of company stock valued at $135,230,506. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 50.7% in the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,361 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Tesla by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,314 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 8.7% in the second quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,205 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,459,000. Finally, CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.4% during the second quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 36,749 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $7,272,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $280.65 and a 200-day moving average of $235.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 98.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 2.36.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 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.