Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $195.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 6.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Tesla in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Glj Research reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.18.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock opened at $320.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 87.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 2.29. 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 has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $358.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $250.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,761,200. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 188,797 shares of company stock worth $57,616,781. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in 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. Tyler Stone Wealth Management increased its stake in Tesla by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 9,425 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 7,527 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 24,440 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,394,000 after acquiring an additional 3,909 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.