Benchmark Initiates Coverage on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Equities researchers at Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Benchmark’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 44.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on TSLA. Wedbush increased their price target on Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $328.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 161.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $408.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $305.46.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,226,491.76. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total transaction of $39,792,803.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,095,100. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Tesla by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 29,979 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $12,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217 shares during the last quarter. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,232,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,958,000. BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $775,000. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 2,772 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.