Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Earns Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.49.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock opened at $237.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $765.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $269.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $322.54. Tesla has a 1 year low of $141.11 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.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’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 owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Embree Financial Group raised its position in Tesla by 46.1% in the first quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,243 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its stake in Tesla by 19.0% during the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 976 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Investment Planning Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 10.0% during the first quarter. Investment Planning Advisors Inc. now owns 1,372 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Tesla by 14.4% in the first quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 486.4% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 692 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.