UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by UBS Group from $226.00 to $259.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sell" rating on the electric vehicle producer's stock. UBS Group's price objective suggests a potential downside of 35.99% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. New Street Research raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Tesla from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $318.31.

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Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $4.32 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $404.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 83,239,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 66,449,784. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $404.22 and a 200-day moving average of $299.34. Tesla has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.33, a P/E/G ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,761,200. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Company Profile

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.