Benchmark Begins Coverage on Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Equities researchers at Benchmark started coverage on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $475.00 price target on the electric vehicle producer's stock. Benchmark's target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.49% from the stock's previous close.

TSLA has been the topic of several other reports. Glj Research restated a "sell" rating and set a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of TSLA stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $355.84. 68,000,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 67,880,264. Tesla has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 174.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $406.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $307.64.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Research analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,226,491.76. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. GS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.