Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Tesla, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 44 brokerages, with ratings ranging from sell to strong buy.
• The electric vehicle manufacturer reported Q2 earnings of $0.40 per share, missing estimates, with a revenue of $22.50 billion, down 11.8% compared to the previous year.
• Insider transactions revealed significant stock sales, including Senior VP Xiaotong Zhu, who sold 20,000 shares for approximately $7.3 million, indicating a 29.59% decrease in their holdings.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the forty-four brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $363.0292.

Several research analysts have weighed in on TSLA shares. Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Tesla from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group set a $247.00 price target on Tesla in a report on Monday, October 6th. China Renaissance reissued a "hold" rating and set a $349.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $548.00 in a research report on Friday, September 19th.

Tesla Stock Down 1.5%

Tesla stock opened at $429.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $380.91 and a 200 day moving average of $330.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 248.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 2.08. Tesla has a one year low of $212.11 and a one year high of $488.54. 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. The trade was a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla 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 in the company, valued at $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.8% in 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 Tesla by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,862 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $9,812,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,133 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $812,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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