Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 2.8% – Should You Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 2.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $293.00 and last traded at $289.85. Approximately 46,161,977 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 77,296,133 shares. The stock had previously closed at $281.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TSLA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $24.86 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.77.

Tesla Stock Up 4.0 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $385.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.70. The company has a market cap of $943.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,903,716. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200 in the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Swedbank AB grew its position in Tesla by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Hills Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Americana Partners LLC grew its position in Tesla by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CacheTech Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.