Tesla’s (TSLA) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $410.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

TSLA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Dbs Bank increased their price objective on Tesla from $300.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Sunday, July 27th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $341.46.

Tesla Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of TSLA opened at $436.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 252.02, a P/E/G ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 2.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $361.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $319.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Tesla has a 1 year low of $212.11 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 637,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. The trade was a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,606 shares of company stock valued at $77,360,462 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 37.7% in the first quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 23,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,984,000 after buying an additional 6,323 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.1% in the first quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $5,823,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Siren L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the first quarter worth about $2,332,000. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 6.9% in the first quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,304,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the first quarter worth about $594,000. 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.