Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given Sell Rating at UBS Group

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reissued by investment analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on TSLA. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Melius began coverage on Tesla in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $520.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $280.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $115.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and eleven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.08.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock traded down $11.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $434.34. 22,046,996 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 100,671,047. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $419.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $353.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 286.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 2.06. Tesla has a 1-year low of $214.25 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 5.51%.The company had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 697,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. This represents a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Tesla during the second quarter worth about $11,839,824,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 322.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,891,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at $3,247,619,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 581,880.5% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 6,436,704 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,044,683,000 after purchasing an additional 6,435,598 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,390,681 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $79,856,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,502,976 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.