Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shot up 2% on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $180.00 to $182.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $166.38 and last traded at $165.39. 45,566,008 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 102,183,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.13.

TSLA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Tesla from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $245.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Tesla from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Tesla from $225.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Tesla from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.22.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,950. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total value of $1,850,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,502,726. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total value of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,098 shares of company stock worth $38,802,534 in the last quarter. 25.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 1.0% in the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. lifted its position in Tesla by 1.6% in the third quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 2,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 0.3% in the third quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 16,881 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,224,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,554 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, ML & R Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 2.6% in the third quarter. ML & R Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $525.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 2.39.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.