Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 1% on Thursday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $280.00 to $480.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $456.36 and last traded at $444.65. Approximately 41,792,681 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 94,912,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $440.13.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Roth Mkm raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,258,000. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management lifted its position in Tesla by 12.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Tesla by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $37,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.24, a PEG ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $314.87 and its 200-day moving average is $252.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current 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.