Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 0.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $359.10 and last traded at $356.03. Approximately 23,358,698 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 75,698,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TSLA. UBS Group increased their target price on Tesla from $226.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $403.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 173.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $27,590,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total transaction of $2,481,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,226,491.76. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Tesla by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 429,860 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $173,595,000 after purchasing an additional 150,438 shares in the last quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Michels Family Financial LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $932,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,777,000. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 3,065 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 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.