Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 5.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were up 5.3% on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $160.00 to $180.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $248.35 and last traded at $243.60. Approximately 99,398,912 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 96,447,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.26.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on TSLA. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Tesla from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $113,236.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,350,652.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.86, for a total transaction of $17,322,306.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,772,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 20.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Tesla by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,841 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Tesla by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 49,567 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,808,000 after purchasing an additional 13,081 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Tesla by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 7,296 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 48.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,682 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,905,000 after buying an additional 4,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 3.9% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,638 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,897,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $785.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 2.31.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $21.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.15 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 14.37%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current 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.