Tesla’s (TSLA) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $550.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on TSLA. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.34.

Tesla Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $263.55 on Thursday. Tesla has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $321.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.34. The company has a market cap of $847.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.19, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.