Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares traded up 1.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $250.64 and last traded at $245.21. 37,907,842 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 87,396,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued a “top pick” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.65.

Tesla Trading Up 4.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $807.02 billion, a PE ratio of 122.82, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $354.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.49.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $98,211,134,000 after buying an additional 3,571,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 2.8% during 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Tesla by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.