Tesla's (TSLA) Sell Rating Reaffirmed at Glj Research

Key Points

• Glj Research has reaffirmed a "sell" rating for Tesla, setting a target price of $19.05, which indicates a potential downside of 95.61% from the current stock price.
• Tesla's stock has recently traded down to $434.05, with a 52-week range between $212.11 and $488.54.
• Despite the bearish stance from Glj Research, a significant number of analysts remain positive on Tesla, with two analyststwenty-one analysts

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating restated by equities researchers at Glj Research in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on TSLA. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $127.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 target price on Tesla in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, CICC Research lifted their price target on Tesla from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $363.54.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA traded down $7.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $434.65. 52,191,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,500,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 250.88, a PEG ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 2.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $391.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $336.26. Tesla has a one year low of $212.11 and a one year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gries Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 46.2% in the third quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at $823,000. Capital Management Associates Inc bought a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth $221,000. Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 16,495 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $7,336,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 9.0% during the third quarter. Highland Financial Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.