Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Up 1.7% - What's Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $342.60 and last traded at $340.46. Approximately 38,874,647 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 97,061,976 shares. The stock had previously closed at $334.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Oppenheimer restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.43.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $272.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $331.41.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). The company 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 earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company's 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 owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,466,850. This trade represents a 56.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 415,623 shares of company stock worth $116,650,831 over the last three months. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WBI Investments LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 404.7% during the 1st quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 2,978 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its stake in Tesla by 59.7% during the first quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. MBL Wealth LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 4.8% during the first quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,596,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 3.3% during the first quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 27.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 25,301 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,557,000 after buying an additional 5,498 shares in the last quarter. 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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