Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 6.3% – Here’s What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 6.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $289.33 and last traded at $289.08. Approximately 54,579,263 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 91,918,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TSLA. TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.12.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $327.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $321.69. The stock has a market cap of $898.37 billion, a PE ratio of 136.80, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,571,793 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.