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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gapped up prior to trading 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.56.

Tesla Trading Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $759.93 billion, a PE ratio of 115.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $319.44.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 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.