Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price shot up 1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $444.40 and last traded at $440.32. 47,816,958 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 95,026,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $436.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Tesla from $280.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.06.

Tesla Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $322.89 and its 200-day moving average is $256.48. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 115.36, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $40,775,792.65. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connable Office Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 0.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in Tesla by 4.4% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners grew its stake in Tesla by 1.0% during the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc lifted its position in Tesla by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 0.4% during the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,754 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.