Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 4.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price shot up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $451.98 and last traded at $450.68. 28,791,843 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 95,030,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $430.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $197.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Tesla from $280.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.06.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $336.79 and a 200-day moving average of $262.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 126.65, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 1,248.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Tesla by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 59.2% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 3.3% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,944,000 after acquiring an additional 9,919 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently 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.