Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 3.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $475.00 to $530.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $491.50 and last traded at $489.88. Approximately 104,941,357 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 98,772,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $475.31.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Tesla from $490.00 to $482.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $307.00 price target on the stock. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Tesla from $341.00 to $471.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $400.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total transaction of $25,606,501.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,391,615 shares in the company, valued at $627,145,215.90. The trade was a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total transaction of $1,170,643.41. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares in the company, valued at $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the second quarter worth $26,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 59.7% in the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $435.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $377.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 326.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.87.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The business had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.