Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 6.3% – Time to Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $289.33 and last traded at $289.08. 54,579,263 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 91,918,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.34.

Tesla Stock Down 3.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $847.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.19, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $321.68.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after purchasing an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at $687,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Tesla by 34.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 50,899 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,317,000 after buying an additional 12,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 15.5% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 10,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.