Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 5.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were up 5.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $272.47 and last traded at $273.44. Approximately 50,867,659 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 93,230,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.75.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $909.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 138.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $312.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $323.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Franchise Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Tesla by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd now owns 12,815 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH increased its position in Tesla by 5.7% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,086 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 24.6% in the first quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.8% during the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Tesla by 24.5% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,407 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.