Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 2.1% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Tesla's stock increased by 2.1% to $345.76, with trading volume down 56% from the average daily volume.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Tesla, with a consensus rating of Hold and a target price of $303.31, while Benchmark raised its target to $475.00.
• Tesla's recent quarterly earnings showed a miss in EPS at $0.40 compared to the estimated $0.43, and revenue dropped 11.8% year-over-year.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $355.87 and last traded at $345.76. 45,657,757 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 103,007,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 9th. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $290.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Sunday, August 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.31.

Tesla Stock Up 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company's 50-day moving average is $324.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.25. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 202.80, a P/E/G ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 2.06.

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

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total transaction of $1,171,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at $244,162,988.99. This represents a 14.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,564 shares of company stock worth $49,396,070 in the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,390,681 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $79,856,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,502,976 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,767,993 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $20,480,477,000 after buying an additional 1,269,304 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,839,824,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $6,891,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,536,519 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $9,908,828,000 after purchasing an additional 158,697 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.