Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirty-eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $312.65.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Tesla Stock Down 10.4 %

TSLA opened at $239.43 on Friday. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $305.98 and its 200 day moving average is $322.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $770.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.37, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Research analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $98,211,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $24,566,217,000 after buying an additional 1,655,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in 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.