Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 66.63% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA opened at $404.60 on Thursday. Tesla has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a P/E/G ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $403.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.99.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,761,200. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 553,386 shares of company stock valued at $196,305,796 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Tesla by 263.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.