Tesla’s (TSLA) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reissued their market perform rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down previously from $270.00) on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Tesla from $345.00 to $320.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Tesla from $255.00 to $224.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Tesla from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $207.04.

Tesla Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $179.83 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 2.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.36. Tesla has a 52-week low of $152.37 and a 52-week high of $299.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total value of $18,247,369.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,950. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total value of $16,439,605.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total value of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,598 shares of company stock valued at $36,952,434 in the last quarter. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1,111.1% during the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 109 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC purchased a new position in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. 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.