Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 5.1% - Here's What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares rose 5.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $251.69 and last traded at $242.45. Approximately 61,405,243 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 86,045,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TSLA. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Cowen upgraded Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $325.81.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $802.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $360.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $319.53.

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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total value of $33,673,167.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,466,850. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 422,452 shares of company stock valued at $153,659,530. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Tesla by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $98,211,134,000 after buying an additional 3,571,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $24,566,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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