Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 9.5% – Should You Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price shot up 9.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $274.72 and last traded at $272.31. 68,876,539 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 91,203,451 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut their price target on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.93.

Tesla Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $335.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $880.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,972 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 115,241 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,151,000 after buying an additional 43,950 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by 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.