Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $402.50 and last traded at $396.72. Approximately 27,511,410 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 78,426,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $394.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on TSLA. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.69.

Tesla Price Performance

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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $368.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 108.47, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 three months, insiders have sold 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Connable Office Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 4.4% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Holistic Financial Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.0% in the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.4% in the third quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,058 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 0.4% in the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,754 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,814,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.