Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Tesla has been upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.50 for the quarter, beating estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.6% at $28.10 billion.
• Recent insider transactions revealed significant share sales, with Director James R. Murdoch selling 60,000 shares, indicating an 8.61% decrease in ownership.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on TSLA. William Blair reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Dbs Bank increased their price objective on Tesla from $300.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Tesla from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. HSBC increased their price objective on Tesla from $120.00 to $127.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Tesla from $280.00 to $406.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and eleven have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $380.03.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $433.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 289.15, a P/E/G ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 2.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $398.06 and a 200 day moving average of $339.92. Tesla has a 52 week low of $214.25 and a 52 week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 6.61% and a net margin of 5.51%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 637,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total value of $918,302.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,473,057.28. This represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. Insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Chapman Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 59.7% during the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 833.3% during the first quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 112 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at $29,000. 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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