Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price traded up 3.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $378.36 and last traded at $375.63. 36,163,843 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 52,511,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.27.

Tesla News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roadster catalyst: Tesla reopened reservations requiring a $5,000 deposit plus an additional $45,000 payment ahead of the planned October 1 reveal. Investors are treating the event, third-quarter deliveries and earnings as major October milestones, although the Roadster is expected to represent a small portion of total vehicle sales. Tesla Reopens Roadster Reservations Ahead of Oct. 1 Reveal
• Positive Sentiment: FSD expansion: The Czech Republic provisionally approved Tesla’s FSD system after earlier safety concerns, adding to recent European approvals and strengthening hopes for broader regulatory clearance. Czech Republic approves Tesla’s FSD
• Positive Sentiment: Energy-storage validation: Tesla and Sunrun said their home-battery fleets delivered more than 580 megawatts of peak power to California’s grid during a heat wave, highlighting Tesla’s virtual-power-plant opportunity beyond electric vehicles. Sunrun and Tesla Dispatch 580 Megawatts
• Neutral Sentiment: Market and expectations: Investors are also looking for a potentially better-than-feared third-quarter delivery result, while analysts’ median price target remains well above the current trading level. However, Tesla’s exceptionally high valuation leaves the stock sensitive to execution and interest-rate changes.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and financial risks: Tesla is headed to trial in California over allegations of racial discrimination. Separately, free cash flow recently turned negative amid heavy investment, though the company retains a reported $43.5 billion cash cushion. Tesla Faces Major Trial in Anti-Black Racism Case
• Negative Sentiment: Governance and execution concerns: Recent reported insider activity showed sales but no purchases, while commentary continues to question Tesla’s profitability, Cybercab progress and the safety challenges facing its Optimus robot initiative.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TSLA shares. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $410.00 price target on Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Tesla from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, August 17th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $412.25.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $349.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $379.59. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 347.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 1.84.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $28.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.42 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 3.82% and a net margin of 3.67%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.13, for a total transaction of $938,498.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,353,296.36. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 19.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 65,700,975 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $29,426,070,000 after buying an additional 375,946 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $17,128,100,000. Amundi raised its position in Tesla by 14.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 22,174,884 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $8,243,513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727,141 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 3,205.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,459,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,650,811,000 after acquiring an additional 20,810,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,535,612,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc is an American technology and automotive company that designs, develops, manufactures and sells electric vehicles and related energy products. Its vehicle lineup has included the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck, along with commercial and specialty products such as the Tesla Semi.

The company also develops energy-generation and storage products, including solar panels, solar roofing systems and battery storage solutions for residential, commercial and utility customers.