Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.26 EPS

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26), RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share.

Tesla Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $237.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $765.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $269.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.54. Tesla has a 52-week low of $141.11 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Tesla stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock after acquiring an additional 9,293 shares during the quarter. Tesla comprises approximately 1.0% of Brighton Jones LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Tesla were worth $35,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on TSLA. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Cowen raised Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on Tesla and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $285.91.

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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