Robert W. Baird Upgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Outperform

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird upgraded Tesla's rating from "neutral" to "outperform", setting a new price target of $548.00, indicating a potential upside of 31.46% from the previous close.
• Despite the upgrade, other brokerages maintain mixed views, with ratings ranging from "reduce" at $120.00 to a "buy" rating at $333.00.
• Tesla's most recent earnings reported an EPS of $0.40, missing estimates and showing an 11.8% decline in revenue from the same quarter last year.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $548.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer's stock, up from their prior price objective of $320.00. Robert W. Baird's target price would suggest a potential upside of 31.46% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TSLA. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Baird R W lowered Tesla from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $440.00 price target on Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $317.70.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $416.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 240.95, a P/E/G ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 2.06. Tesla has a twelve month low of $212.11 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The company's fifty day moving average is $338.43 and its 200 day moving average is $307.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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 analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total value of $1,171,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,606 shares of company stock worth $77,360,462. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $35,509,000 after purchasing an additional 9,293 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $346,000. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $4,187,000 after purchasing an additional 3,558 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,263 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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