Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 7.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price shot up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $249.00 to $313.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $347.34 and last traded at $344.63. 43,089,258 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 95,790,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $320.72.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on TSLA. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating and set a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $274.00 to $258.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Tesla from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,797 shares of company stock valued at $57,616,781. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Connable Office Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 4.4% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Holistic Financial Partners grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.0% in the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Integris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc grew its position in shares of Tesla by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,058 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Up 5.6 %

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 market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 92.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.13.

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