Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 6.8% Higher – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shot up 6.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $421.72 and last traded at $417.78. 96,118,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 100,549,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $548.00 in a research report on Friday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Tesla from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $280.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, October 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and ten have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $394.03.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $433.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $367.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 284.39, a P/E/G ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 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 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total transaction of $7,275,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 47,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% 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 this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,606 shares of company stock worth $33,554,102. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,386,304 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $112,241,237,000 after purchasing an additional 995,623 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Tesla by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 113,762,849 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $50,592,614,000 after buying an additional 344,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,767,993 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $20,480,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,304 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Tesla by 5.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,035,949 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $19,583,547,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,839,824,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently 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.