Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given “Hold” Rating at Argus

Argus restated their hold rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on TSLA. Stifel Nicolaus set a $450.00 price target on Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $314.00 to $307.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.67.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $308.58 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $292.68 and a 200-day moving average of $333.20. Tesla has a one year low of $167.41 and a one year high of $488.54. The company has a market cap of $993.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,500. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 855,394 shares in the company, valued at $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 818,509 shares of company stock valued at $273,791,775. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently 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.