DZ Bank Reiterates Sell Rating for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Key Points

• DZ Bank has reiterated a sell rating for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a recent research note released to investors.
• The current consensus rating for Tesla is Hold, with a consensus target price of $375.50 based on recommendations from multiple brokerages.
• Tesla's stock saw a notable increase on Thursday, trading up $10.01 to reach $448.98, with a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating restated by analysts at DZ Bank in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on TSLA. Roth Capital set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday. Melius Research set a $520.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and eleven have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $375.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

Tesla stock traded up $10.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $448.98. 125,215,227 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,730,969. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 259.53, a P/E/G ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 2.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. Tesla has a 52-week low of $214.25 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $393.73 and its 200 day moving average is $336.97.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Tesla's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total value of $918,302.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total transaction of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. This represents a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. Insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter worth approximately $11,839,824,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 322.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,891,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the first quarter worth $3,247,619,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 581,880.5% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 6,436,704 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,044,683,000 after purchasing an additional 6,435,598 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,390,681 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $79,856,764,000 after acquiring an additional 4,502,976 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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