Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 2% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price shot up 2% on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $123.00 to $136.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $166.38 and last traded at $165.39. 45,566,008 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 102,183,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.13.

TSLA has been the topic of several other reports. KGI Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $213.00 target price (down from $309.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, April 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Tesla from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Tesla from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $186.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,950. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,950. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total transaction of $16,439,605.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 209,098 shares of company stock worth $38,802,534 over the last quarter. 25.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Tesla by 4.8% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 64,063 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,262,000 after buying an additional 2,927 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 4,608 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 5,141 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. MBA Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla during the first quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 14.5% during the first quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,448,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $535.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 2.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). Tesla had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 14.37%. The company had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.