Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading 4.4% Higher - What's Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) rose 4.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $236.00 and last traded at $231.61. Approximately 55,750,454 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 94,757,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cowen raised Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $430.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $298.59.

Tesla Stock Down 0.2 %

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 stock has a market cap of $810.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $285.19 and a 200 day moving average of $323.09.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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 analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total value of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $41,745,581.15. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $98,211,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,655,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is 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.