Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $411.00 to $492.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $426.43 and last traded at $415.86. Approximately 35,273,547 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 78,854,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $410.44.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TSLA. Roth Mkm raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $310.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Finally, New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,258,000. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,095,100. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 514,886 shares of company stock worth $169,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its stake in Tesla by 12.1% during the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. grew its position 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 valued at $37,801,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.93, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $362.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.38. 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 data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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.