Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 0.1% Higher – What’s Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $238.00 and last traded at $236.08. 33,978,504 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 90,713,331 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.56.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $341.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.02. The stock has a market cap of $754.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 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.