Tesla’s (TSLA) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their buy rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $404.00 target price on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on TSLA. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.12.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $235.86 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $758.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $341.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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 predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $98,211,134,000 after buying an additional 3,571,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $24,566,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by 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.