Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 3.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 3.7% during trading on Thursday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $156.00 to $175.00. Guggenheim currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $375.43 and last traded at $371.15. Approximately 35,094,877 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 94,531,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $357.93.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $197.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $37,226,491.76. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 420,280 shares of company stock worth $135,164,640. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $37,801,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management grew its stake in Tesla by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 9,425 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 187.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 725,282 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $189,756,000 after acquiring an additional 472,565 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 24.2% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 7,527 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $282.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.89. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.23, a P/E/G ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 2.36.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share 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.