Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives Top Pick Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their top pick rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $430.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

TSLA has been the subject of several other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Phillip Securities lowered Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.77.

Tesla Stock Down 2.8 %

TSLA stock opened at $284.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $382.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $915.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 403,996 shares of company stock valued at $153,721,387. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $813,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $455,000. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Tesla by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 426,983 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $172,433,000 after acquiring an additional 73,340 shares in 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.