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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $249.00 to $313.00. The stock had previously closed at $320.72, but opened at $340.73. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $340.84, with a volume of 29,883,541 shares trading hands.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $230.18.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,761,200. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,797 shares of company stock valued at $57,616,781 in the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Tesla by 0.9% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,399 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,399,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. PAX Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 9.2% in the first quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 27.8% during the first quarter. Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,329 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Partners LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 25.4% during the first quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.60, a PEG ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 2.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current 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.