Mizuho Upgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Outperform

Mizuho upgraded shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $515.00 target price on the electric vehicle producer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $230.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $287.00 to $411.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $255.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Tesla from $156.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $266.00.

Tesla Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of TSLA opened at $479.86 on Tuesday. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $483.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $310.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.62. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 131.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Tesla will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,727,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Tesla by 60.0% during the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.