Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 3.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Tesla's stock rose 3.5% after Canaccord Genuity upgraded its price target from $303 to $333, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Several analysts have differing views on Tesla, with price targets ranging from $115 to $450, reflecting an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.75.
• Insiders have been active, with significant share sales including that of Director Kimbal Musk, who sold 91,588 shares for approximately $32 million.
• Tesla's earnings report indicated a miss on expectations, with an EPS of $0.40 compared to estimates of $0.43, along with revenue down 11.8% year-over-year.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 3.5% during trading on Friday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $303.00 to $333.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $314.69 and last traded at $315.88. 39,483,670 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 107,694,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $305.30.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 855,394 shares in the company, valued at $305,632,276.20. This represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total value of $32,732,635.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,463,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $522,940,195.80. The trade was a 5.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 835,509 shares of company stock worth $279,420,485 over the last three months. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 3,694,524 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,655,203 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 322.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,891,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 188.20, a P/E/G ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 2.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $324.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.53.

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

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.