Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $326.50.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA opened at $336.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $407.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.23. Tesla has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,095,100. This represents a 56.94 % 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,903,716. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $98,211,134,000 after buying an additional 3,571,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $24,566,217,000 after buying an additional 1,655,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,741,075 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,473,008,000 after acquiring an additional 828,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares in the last quarter. 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.