Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 6.5% – What’s Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price shot up 6.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $302.55 and last traded at $303.10. 70,835,418 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 99,237,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on TSLA. Wedbush set a $500.00 price objective on Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Tesla from $425.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.27.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $292.17 and a 200 day moving average of $333.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $950.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,500. This trade represents a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 870,721 shares of company stock valued at $286,248,728. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is 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.