Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 2.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 2.2% during trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $300.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $320.13 and last traded at $318.10. Approximately 44,128,813 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 95,711,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.18.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Tesla from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. This represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,258,000. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 188,797 shares of company stock valued at $57,616,781. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the second quarter worth $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 168.8% in 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 $29,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% during 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. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Up 2.2 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $250.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 87.15, a P/E/G ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 2.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current 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.