Guggenheim Reaffirms "Sell" Rating for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating restated by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $318.77.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock traded up $11.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $293.33. 115,346,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 79,298,227. The company has a market cap of $943.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $385.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.95. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.