Tesla's (TSLA) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reiterated by Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Tesla from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $317.28.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA traded up $11.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $400.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 97,437,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,059,930. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.67, a P/E/G ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30. The business's 50-day moving average price is $401.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,727,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 617,886 shares of company stock valued at $212,451,751. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.