Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $284.70, but opened at $298.83. Tesla shares last traded at $297.09, with a volume of 51,143,759 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TSLA shares. Cfra Research downgraded Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating and issued a $19.05 target price (down from $24.86) on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $450.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.97.

Tesla Stock Up 5.7%

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 market capitalization of $969.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 146.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $291.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $333.97.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total transaction of $170,636,475.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 855,394 shares in the company, valued at $305,632,276.20. This trade represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 870,721 shares of company stock valued at $286,248,728 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in Tesla by 79.2% during the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in Tesla in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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