Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 3.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $226.00 to $259.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $418.44 and last traded at $415.03. 29,286,134 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 72,564,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.28.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on TSLA. Bank of America cut shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,356,401 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $15,469,792,000 after buying an additional 1,022,589 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,741,075 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,473,008,000 after acquiring an additional 828,308 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,377,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,763 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,545,824 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,328,884,000 after purchasing an additional 301,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,201,212 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,192,203,000 after buying an additional 1,294,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 203.45, a P/E/G ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $403.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.