Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 0.7% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday after Phillip Securities upgraded the stock to a moderate sell rating. The stock traded as high as $262.80 and last traded at $261.46. Approximately 22,988,190 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 94,327,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.52.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TSLA. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $219.45.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at $14,967,479.07. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,967,479.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,297 shares of company stock worth $3,065,866 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Maia Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.5% during the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 2,791 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $727,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 9.9% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 7,369 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,928,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 8,512 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,910,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its position in Tesla by 4.4% during the third quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 9,398 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $826.75 billion, a PE ratio of 70.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm 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%. Tesla’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.