Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 0.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $402.50 and last traded at $396.72. Approximately 27,511,410 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 78,426,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $394.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.69.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $373.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $279.12.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 621,886 shares of company stock worth $213,451,751. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 168.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Tesla by 60.0% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter valued at $35,000. 66.20% of the stock is 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.