Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 9.5% – What’s Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shot up 9.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $274.72 and last traded at $272.31. 68,876,539 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 91,203,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.93.

Tesla Stock Up 3.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $926.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 simple moving average is $330.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $322.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. boosted its position in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth 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 position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.