Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 0.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was up 0.9% during trading on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $351.00 to $373.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Tesla traded as high as $412.50 and last traded at $392.43. Approximately 44,919,076 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 72,095,328 shares. The stock had previously closed at $389.10.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on TSLA. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered Tesla from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Roth Mkm raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tesla from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.56.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total value of $1,007,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,442,856.32. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 617,886 shares of company stock valued at $212,451,751. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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. Finally, Prospect Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $401.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 107.52, a PEG ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 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.

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