Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $400.00. The stock had previously closed at $321.22, but opened at $346.30. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $342.51, with a volume of 52,453,523 shares traded.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Tesla from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Tesla from $274.00 to $258.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,258,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,797 shares of company stock worth $19,211,821 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

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 $1.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 94.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 2.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $243.90 and its 200-day moving average is $217.03.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Tesla’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.