Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Up 1.2% – Should You Buy?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price traded up 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $258.75 and last traded at $255.46. 34,621,297 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 95,789,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on TSLA. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

Tesla Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $323.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $813.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,500. This trade represents a 12.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.