Tesla’s (TSLA) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $115.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $345.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $307.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and eleven have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $380.97.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $448.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 299.32, a PEG ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 2.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $396.00 and a 200 day moving average of $338.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. Tesla has a one year low of $214.25 and a one year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 637,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,260,263.08. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902 over the last 90 days. 19.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Tesla in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in Tesla in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its stake in Tesla by 59.7% in the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR increased its stake in Tesla by 833.3% in the first quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 112 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Company Profile

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.