Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday 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 $171.25 and last traded at $170.27. Approximately 43,083,689 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 102,489,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.18.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. KGI Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $213.00 price target (down from $309.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Tesla from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America raised shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $186.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total transaction of $121,674.57. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,171 shares in the company, valued at $11,188,215.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,920,950. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total value of $121,674.57. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,171 shares in the company, valued at $11,188,215.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 209,098 shares of company stock valued at $38,802,534 in the last quarter. 25.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $7,844,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 25,990.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,202,806 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,541,273,000 after purchasing an additional 6,179,032 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,806,372 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $57,102,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866,361 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 34.0% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 9,032,207 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,260,039,000 after buying an additional 2,293,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 7.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 30,160,747 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $7,546,823,000 after buying an additional 2,177,397 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $535.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business's fifty day moving average price is $175.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.64.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 14.37%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.