Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price shot up 3.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $317.68 and last traded at $319.38. 48,182,453 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 99,848,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $308.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $19.05 price target (down from $24.86) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.67.

Tesla Trading Up 3.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 156.62, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $292.68 and a 200-day moving average of $333.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.58, for a total transaction of $32,096,336.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,274,300. This trade represents a 56.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction 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 $6,737,500. This represents a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 818,509 shares of company stock worth $273,791,775 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other 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.