Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 5% - Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $357.61 and last traded at $356.43. Approximately 41,339,129 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 97,290,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $339.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $410.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a "reduce" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.97.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 177.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. The stock's fifty day moving average is $281.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $333.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total transaction of $33,673,167.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,466,850. This represents a 56.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 415,623 shares of company stock valued at $116,650,831. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $63,983,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,694,524 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $24,566,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Company Profile

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.