Tesla’s (TSLA) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on TSLA. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Tesla from $315.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Phillip Securities cut Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $280.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $404.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $404.22 and a 200-day moving average of $299.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. Tesla has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $36,761,200. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 553,386 shares of company stock valued at $196,305,796. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 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.