Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 0.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to a moderate sell rating. The stock traded as high as $262.80 and last traded at $261.46. Approximately 22,988,190 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 94,327,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.52.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on TSLA. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group lowered Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their target price for the company from $147.00 to $197.00 in a report on Friday, July 12th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.45.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,258,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,967,479.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,297 shares of company stock worth $3,065,866. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Tesla by 60.2% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 549,008 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $108,638,000 after purchasing an additional 206,248 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Tesla by 138.1% during the 2nd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 5,969 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 3,462 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 34.1% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 12.9% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 236,802 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $46,858,000 after acquiring an additional 27,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Tesla in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,941,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $802.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 2.29. 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 fifty day moving average price of $233.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.78.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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.