Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Now Covered by Analysts at Benchmark

Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $475.00 price target on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

TSLA has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.50.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA opened at $336.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.96, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $407.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.23.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total transaction of $35,339,911.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,727,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $14,420,248,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 35,611.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,892,160,000 after acquiring an additional 11,023,436 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,497,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Tesla by 4,963.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719,466 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 55,181.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,382,674 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,769,899,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.