Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $225.31, but opened at $231.61. Tesla shares last traded at $231.09, with a volume of 14,302,782 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TSLA. Oppenheimer restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.56.

Tesla Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $338.11 and a 200 day moving average of $319.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $759.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Tesla by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,997,660,000 after buying an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Tesla by 36,790.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,497,526,000 after buying an additional 8,637,195 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Tesla by 4,963.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,356,288,000 after buying an additional 5,719,466 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.