Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 3.7% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Tesla's stock price has increased by 3.7% to $341.57, despite a significant drop in trading volume, which fell 71% below the average.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Tesla, with one "Strong Buy," seventeen "Buy," fifteen "Hold," and nine "Sell" ratings, leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.31.
• Recent insider transactions included CFO Vaibhav Taneja selling 2,000 shares, reducing his stake by 25.24%, while Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 14.69%.

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) were up 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $340.47 and last traded at $341.57. Approximately 30,363,306 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 103,245,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.31.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 194.03, a PEG ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $323.07 and a 200 day moving average of $302.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%.The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,200. This trade represents a 25.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 697,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,162,988.99. This trade represents a 14.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,564 shares of company stock valued at $49,396,070 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at $11,839,824,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,247,619,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 27,378.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,542,960,000 after purchasing an additional 9,776,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 581,880.5% during the second 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 last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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