Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives "Buy" Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Tesla's stock received a "Buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank of Canada, amid a range of ratings from other firms including Deutsche Bank's increased price target of $435.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share, missing estimates and showing an 11.8% revenue decline year-over-year.
• Insider trading saw significant sales with SVP Xiaotong Zhu and Director James R. Murdoch selling large amounts of stock, indicating potential shifts in insider confidence.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports.

TSLA has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Tesla from $345.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Sunday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $332.33.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $428.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 250.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 2.06. Tesla has a 52 week low of $212.11 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company's 50-day moving average price is $349.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $312.97.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,314,500. This represents a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,606 shares of company stock worth $77,360,462. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 86.3% in the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the second quarter worth $26,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the first quarter valued at $27,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.