Piper Sandler Raises Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $500.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) had its price target lifted by Piper Sandler from $315.00 to $500.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the electric vehicle producer's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Tesla from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.94.

Tesla Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of TSLA stock traded down $2.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $424.07. 86,903,227 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 82,108,117. The business has a 50 day moving average of $391.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 116.18, a PEG ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at $391,164,540.60. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 621,886 shares of company stock valued at $213,451,751 in the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Avaii Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,636 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,468,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Cora Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 881 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. 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.