Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 3.9% Higher - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Tesla's share price increased by 3.9% to $328.30, although trading volume was down significantly by 66% compared to its average daily volume.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Tesla, with ten giving a sell rating, fifteen a hold, and seventeen a buy; the average price target stands at $302.75.
• Recent insider activity showed significant sales, including SVP Xiaotong Zhu selling 15,000 shares for over $4.8 million, indicating a notable decrease in their ownership position.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 3.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $326.40 and last traded at $328.30. Approximately 37,088,220 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 107,951,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $316.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. China Renaissance reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $349.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, July 25th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price target (up previously from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cfra Research downgraded Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.31.

Tesla Trading Down 3.4%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $323.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $313.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $994.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 178.19, a P/E/G ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 2.39.

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

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.02, for a total transaction of $2,046,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $664,989. The trade was a 75.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total transaction of $4,857,150.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 719,119 shares of company stock worth $246,186,549 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 322.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $6,891,201,000 after buying an additional 20,291,139 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 1st quarter valued at $3,247,619,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after buying an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 27,378.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,542,960,000 after buying an additional 9,776,607 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 581,880.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 6,436,704 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,044,683,000 after buying an additional 6,435,598 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.