Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $135.00. The stock had previously closed at $389.10, but opened at $410.78. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $385.98, with a volume of 17,618,144 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.15.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 617,886 shares of company stock worth $212,451,751. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Tesla by 130.2% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its position in shares of Tesla by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 108.15, a P/E/G ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $401.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.28.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 EPS for the current 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.