Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 2.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price was up 2.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $431.60 and last traded at $427.80. Approximately 30,737,538 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 94,445,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $418.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Tesla from $156.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, August 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $257.36.

Tesla Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 117.21, a P/E/G ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $298.02 and its 200 day moving average is $244.72.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,727,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 1,248.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its holdings in Tesla by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Tesla by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 1.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.