Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target Raised to $500.00 at Wedbush

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price lifted by Wedbush from $350.00 to $500.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cfra Research lowered Tesla from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Tesla from $370.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.97.

Tesla Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $339.34 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $332.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 166.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Tesla has a 1 year low of $167.41 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.11, for a total value of $1,050,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $9,435,464.50. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,395 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.12, for a total transaction of $30,809,717.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,300,200. This trade represents a 56.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 415,623 shares of company stock valued at $116,650,831 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $275,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,361,000. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $374,000. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its position in Tesla by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 2,866 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 138,880 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $56,085,000 after acquiring an additional 11,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.