Tesla’s (TSLA) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $550.00 price target on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on TSLA. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.34.

Tesla Price Performance

TSLA stock opened at $263.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.34. The stock has a market cap of $847.71 billion, a PE ratio of 129.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its 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, analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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 value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % 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 valued at $166,849,043. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.