Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their overweight rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $310.00 target price on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Tesla from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Tesla from $123.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Tesla from $138.00 to $120.00 and set a reduce rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $183.62.

Tesla Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of TSLA opened at $181.57 on Thursday. Tesla has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $299.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $579.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 2.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Tesla had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $21.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.15 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $113,236.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at $11,350,652.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $113,236.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at $11,350,652.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total transaction of $1,850,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,502,726. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,855 shares of company stock worth $19,285,643 over the last three months. Insiders own 25.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Wyrmwood Management LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lam Group Inc. bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 202.2% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 136 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 190 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.