Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 3.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $226.00 to $259.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $418.44 and last traded at $415.03. 29,286,134 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 72,564,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.28.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,727,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $403.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.99.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS 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.