Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $213.65, but opened at $244.68. Tesla shares last traded at $248.94, with a volume of 43,156,824 shares traded.

TSLA has been the topic of several other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Tesla in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Tesla from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Tesla from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $218.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,258,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,258,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 35,611.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,892,160,000 after purchasing an additional 11,023,436 shares in the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 347.7% during the 2nd quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 4,818,600 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $953,505,000 after acquiring an additional 6,764,300 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 21,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 5,902,416 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,167,970,000 after acquiring an additional 5,875,484 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 233,602,120 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $41,064,917,000 after acquiring an additional 3,795,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 236.8% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,104,010 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $416,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,479,378 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $228.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.41. The company has a market cap of $832.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.17, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 13.00%. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.